The Arab Spring

Arab Spring is a term related to a wave of mass protests and demonstrations which could be observed from December 2010 in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. In numerous countries the turmoil transformed from street riots into armed battles of the protesters with the forces of the defending regimes. The changes which occurred in this part of the world led to the collapse of the existing governments or to political crisis. The situation in the region where riots took place is still unstable. The increasingly intense protests were both political and economic in nature. The social discontent was caused by a high level of unemployment, unsatisfactory living conditions, limited civil rights and corruption observed in political circles. The embers of the conflicts were kindled by the representatives of political and religious movements which considered this as a chance to implement their own programmes. One phenomenon of the Arab Spring was the social involvement of the new media in the course of events and the use of technologies such as the Internet as a carrier of information supporting the activity of the rebels. Opis stanowi fragment Wstępu