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Protests were starting to break out but a significant event that erupted the push towards democratic government was Muhammad Bouazizi. In December 2010, Muhammad Bouazizi (26 years old) caught himself on fire after police in Tunisia accused him of not having a permit for his produce stand. Muhammad catching himself on fire was an act to show a statement had to be made against the government, which his bold move led to the Jasmine Revolution.
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Many citizens in Middle Eastern and North African countries, like Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, were unhappy with authoritarian government
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The Jasmine Revolution erupted after Mohammed Bouazizi took a stand to government mistreatment by catching himself on fire, which he did eventually die from his injuries. Riots and protests started in Tunisia to try and push out the Prime Minister of Tunisia, Zene al-Abidine Ben Ali.
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The Jasmine Revolution caused even more of a tense relationship between citizens and the government/police. Ben Ali tried to please the people of Tunisia by saying he could make improvements in food prices and job opportunities but his attempts made no difference. The goal to honor Muhammed and continuously not let up pushing for democratic opportunities by not accepting concessions led to Ben Ali stepping down.
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Following the conclusion of Tunisia and Ben Ali's exit closely, citizens in Cairo, Egypt broke out in riots and protests because of their unhappiness in the oppression they've felt from the Egyptian government and Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak.
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After President Mubarak left office, governmental power was given to the Egyptian military leaders. Egyptian citizens were excited to see Mubarak out of office but the military leaders became hesitant to hold fair elections like Tunisia did. This arose revolts between the Egyptian people and the military but that didn't stop Parliamentary elections being held November 2011.
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The people of Libya followed in the direction of unhappiness towards their authoritarian government. Libya is an unfortunate example of a civil war that is still happening in 2020. Dictator of Libya was Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and not only executed publicly but Libya media shared images of the torture and killing to millions of people.
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Syria was another country that partook in the fight for democracy after the death of Mohammad Bouazizi in Tunisia. Bashar al-Assad was and is the current President of Syria. The response to the revolts in Syria by Bashar was violent and he is an example of a political leader that did not step down from his position when met with controversy. Because Bashar is still in his presidency in Syria, I believe the civil war is still present in 2020.
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The people of Yemen were unhappy with their president named Ali Abdullah Saleh. The protest against Ali Abdullah Saleh grew to 16,000 protestors in Sanaa (also the protest called the "Day of Rage"). Even though Ali did declare he would not run for president again, that did not stop him from refraining from signing a deal presented to him. Ali was hurt by a bombing, stepped away from his duty to recover, and returned to sign a deal that Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi would serve as president (2012).
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Ben Ali steps down from being the Prime Minister of Tunisia and leaves for Saudi Arabia. This ends the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia.
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Surprisingly, the Egyptian military that was sent to ward off the rioters and protesters turned against the Egyptian president named Hosni Mubarak. This huge loss of support led to Hosni Mubarak stepping down from his position of Egyptian president.
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After Ben Ali fled to Saudia Arabia, the first Democractic Election in Tunisia was held in 2011 and I believe the Ennahda Party was declared the winner.
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Because of Arab Springs and the revolts, different groups of power (some sites called them fighters) entered into the mix of the civil war, including the terrorist group called ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq). ISIS became so dangerous in Syria that in the midst of groups going against each other they all turned to go against ISIS and Abu Bak al-Baghdadi.
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Unfortunately, as of 2014 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has become the president of Egypt and reverted back to previously authoritarian decisions.
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Two rebel groups, ISIS (Jihadist group) and Al Qaeda, separated when the Arab Springs revolts started occurring within different Middle Easter countries. ISIS and Al Qaeda disagreed on different approaches towards who and how they should gain power in the Middle East.
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After the public execution of Muammar in October, the desire to become a democratic country was unsuccessful. Currently in 2020, the west and east sides of Libya are ran by different governments (Tripoli administration and Tobruk administration). From my research, even though there is a power struggle between the two sides it is reported that Tripoli administration is technically the official party of Libya. The economy and well-being has suffered from this tug of war on power since 2011.
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Syria is another current economically struggling country that partook in the Arab Springs in 2011. Bashar al-Assad is the current president of Syria and he does not allow democracy in political or economic issues. Many people of Syria, especially in Sweidaa, were left in poverty since the negative economic impact from the war that started in 2011. Syria has dealt with continued terrorist groups & issues in foreign relationships which has left Syrian people to deal with the chaos and destruction.
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In 2018, the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, raised prices of two important materials, fuel and bread. This causes an upset between protestors and Sudan government/Omar in Khartoum.
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Going back to where the Arab Springs started in 2010, it seems like Tunisia is dealing with the some of the same economic issues that Mohammed Bouazizi did. Protests occurred in 2018 when the economy wasn't doing well and prices were raised unexpectedly.When 12 Tunisian women died because of an unsafe vehicle in 2019, that erupted protests from months of previous unemployment and safety concerns. It does seem though that Tunisia hasn't become as violent compared to other countries.
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Yemen is another country that has felt the negative economic impact since the Arab Springs in 2011. Yemen civilians were put in dangerous situations and couldn't do daily activities without worrying they'd be attacked with missiles or on foot attacks relating to war. Amnesty reports that "by the end of 2019, over 233,000 Yemen civilians perished from the current war and humanitarian crisis."
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Algeria is one current example of a country in North Africa that is currently attempted to force their president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to step down and establish a democratic government.
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The unpopular president of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, did eventually get released from his position after violent protests erupted in 2018. The Sovereign Council of Sudan (General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan) and new Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, were announced as new leaders government leaders in 2019.
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In 2019, the people in Iraq were upset with the gov for the lack of basic necessities like water and electric. Iraq was making money (especially from oil), but it wasn't being put back into the wellbeing of the people.There has been a decline in employment opportunities despite government changes were made in 2018. Iraq dealt with ISIS for many years, which made it an unsafe and violent country in media. A respected commander was removed which angered many & protesters were met with violence.
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As of 2019, Egyptians are at odds with the Egyptian government once again, especially since a decision was made to tear down houses if a specific registration was not acquired. These protests in Egypt were met with violence (like rubber bullets and gas) by police. Many protesters were injured, hurt by police, arrested, and some were killed (even though they were peacefully protesting). Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is currently the president of Egypt still in 2020.
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It seems war tactics continue to plague Libya similarly to the way it did at the beginning of the Arab Springs revolts. In 2019, the goal of General Khalifa Haftar was to invade Tripoli and that keeps the people of Libya in a continued environment of war. This led to a protest in Tripoli 2019 against Khalifa and his push towards war.
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From my research, I've concluded that times in the Middle East and North Africa are if not more in an economic and democratic struggle in 2020 compared to 2011. Lebanon is an example of a country still caught in the depression, anger, economic hardships, and political distrust that date back to the beginning of the Arab Springs in 2011. A bombing in Beirut, that killed more than a 100 people and left 300,000 without homes had heightened tensions between the people and Lebanon government.
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After the destructive bombing in Lebanon, many protesters (who were already unhappy with the state of politics and human rights) demanded the Prime Minister to resign because he is thought to be of fault. The Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, did eventually resign after the negative backlash with the president of Lebanon, Michel Aoun, continuing his position in 2020.
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After Khalifa's disregard for the impact of war, Libyan people showed their anger by setting fire to a government establishment in Benghazi. Government power was being challenged by different groups wanting to gain control. Khalifa has also led to losses in profit from the oil field, which is where Libya previously profited from. The lack of concern for human rights, a lack of democracy, lack of economic growth, lack of COVID-10 precautions, and lack of safety stemming from war is current.