The latest is Beirut. Five stations have passed the second wave of the Arab Spring

Since the end of 2018, several Arab countries have witnessed a wave of protests that have restored the “spirit” to the Arab Spring revolutions, after a decline in public turnout against the ruling regimes, and the fear of most peoples of the repetition of similar revolutions in Syria, Libya and Yemen And internal wars.

The new wave of protests was characterized by peaceful demonstrations and the insistence of the protesters to miss the opportunity for governments to use force against them and drag them into an armed conflict in which the security services will prevail, thus aborting the objectives of the protesters.

In Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and other countries, protesters took to the streets to protest against deteriorating living conditions, corruption in their institutions and other reasons, some of which are linked to regime change or radical political reforms.

First Spring
With the growing crisis of trust between peoples and regimes, the spread of financial and political corruption and the inability of governments to respond to the basic requirements of life, job opportunities and decent living, the people of several countries, beginning in Tunisia since 2011, have adopted the option of peaceful protest to change the situation in general, and overthrow "authoritarian" regimes. several.

Tunisians succeeded in peaceful change of the regime in 2011, as well as in Egypt, which saw two changes in power ended in the return of the country to a "military" regime, while Syria, Libya and Yemen turned into countries experiencing internal conflicts and civil wars since 2011, and played a factor Regional and international external interventions play a key role in the status of the three countries.

The most notable development in the so-called "Arab Spring revolutions" was when Egyptians ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, weeks after the ouster of former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the first successful revolution.

Less than two and a half years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted and less than a year after the election of late President Mohamed Morsi in the first "real" elections, military leaders turned against Morsi in the context of what became known as "counter-revolutions" in which the UAE and Saudi Arabia played an active role in supporting an abortion. The Arab Spring revolutions, especially in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

In a "formal" election, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power in Egypt since 2013, consolidating his powers with the support of the armed forces without carrying out any economic, political or social reforms, prompting the Egyptian people to come out several times in protests that have been met with crackdowns and road closures. Public squares and hundreds of protesters arrested.

The second spring drops two heads
The year 2019 proved that the motives of the 2011 protests are still very strong in many countries, and that the period of calm between 2011 and 2019, when the counter-revolution extended and strengthened, did not eliminate the seed of the revolution planted by the people at the beginning of the current decade, and may be merely a recalculation and preparation for the wave. New.

The Sudanese have toppled President Omar al-Bashir after nearly three decades of rule, and after protests that lasted from December to April, during which the Sudanese insisted on the departure of Bashir and his military regime.

Despite the reality of Sudanese society, which is characterized by ethnic, religious and tribal divisions, and a long history of internal conflicts and wars, the leaders of the revolutionary movement succeeded in avoiding dragging the country into chaos by engaging in armed conflict with government forces and security services, as in Yemen, Libya and Syria after "bloody" crackdowns. Protesters suffered.

Although former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika succeeded for many years in overcoming the popular movement after the Arab Spring revolutions, he faced widespread protests for several months that forced him to relinquish power after increasing popular pressure and the entry of army leaders on the crisis line. "Official" in the holding of formal elections put an end to the crisis, and popular protests demanding the fall of all symbols of power under Bouteflika and previous eras and the prosecution of corrupt senior.

Against corruption and quotas
In Iraq, as a result of decades of foreign wars, internal conflicts and rampant corruption after the 2003 invasion, the standard of living has fallen to levels that are disproportionate to the size of the country's resources.

After the end of the three-year war against the Islamic State (IS) at the end of 2017, Iraqis hoped to improve their living conditions, reduce unemployment and fight corruption, but the Iraqi government failed to respond to the aspirations of Iraqis who deem it legitimate.

Since the protests of October 1 - the broadest and most challenging of the central government - the protesters appear to have bypassed the subordination of the political blocs that were organizing the protests and speaking on behalf of the protesters, such as the Sadrists, as in previous protests between 2015 and 2019 that "accuse "In collusion with the government to circumvent the demands of the protesters through promises" not fulfilled.

Since mid-October, mass protests have erupted in Beirut and most major cities over the decision to impose telecommunications charges, but have evolved even after the decision was canceled, taking a course focused on corruption, poor government performance and deteriorating infrastructure, with a demand to bring down the whole system and continue protests. Even responding to these demands, despite Prime Minister Saad Hariri's financial reform paper, has not resonated in the Lebanese street, just as he did with the pledges made by President Michel Aoun.

The Lebanese protests have succeeded in leapfrogging the social and sectarian divisions and political quotas that form the basis for shaping the system of government.

Observers see similarities between Iraq and Lebanon, as state institutions in both countries lack complete independence because of the wide influence of paramilitary armed forces representing a state close to the state within the state, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization in Iraq.

Iraq and Lebanon also suffer from the repercussions of sectarian conflict, internal wars, and severe sectarian divisions in society, as well as high unemployment, declining standard of living and poor basic services, with high rates of corruption in state institutions by the main political leaders in power.

Although the second wave of the Arab Spring has emerged clearly and strongly in the past four countries, it has seen traffic - but faster this time - in Egypt as a result of severe repression and security and bloody dealing with those who take to the street.

Similarity of the two waves
Social, political and economic conditions in the first Arab Spring are similar to the new wave in terms of the continuing frustration of large segments of young people, due to unemployment, deteriorating living conditions, increased corruption in state institutions and governments, and other reasons, including freedom of expression and "harsh" pressures. Exercised by the "security" organs of those systems.

The public scene is repeated in the streets of Beirut, Baghdad, Algeria and Cairo, where a new wave of popular protests is taking place, expressing popular rejection of the policies of the ruling regimes, whether economic or social, as well as aspects of political reform, freedom of expression and human rights.

The current wave of protests is more focused on undermining the foundations of the political system and institutions engulfed in corruption and nepotism and draining the resources of these countries in favor of the ruling and influential political classes.