The Revolt and the Role of the Politicised Youth in the Middle East

1 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXVI, No.1, Fall 2012 The Revolt and the Role of the Politicised Youth in the Middle East David Khabaz* The defining characteristics of a spontaneous uprising The revolts that have overwhelmed the Arab world took everyone by surprise. Who would have imagined that within the first three months of 2011 the Arab world would be in the grip of a sustained revolt? More importantly, who would have believed the Arab world would have peaceably disposed of three of its longest serving autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and that the UN would have sanctioned a UN-NATO led military intervention in Libya which eventually led to the downfall of Gadhafi? Perhaps even more astonishingly, who would have imagined that the most decisive and potent actors in the region, the United States and Europe would, along with the various local despots, find themselves suddenly reduced to mere spectators while hugely concerned about the course of the events and the pending consequences? The current revolts in the Middle East have profound implications for the region and the world and they most certainly represent a significant moment in history. This is a region where revolts, revolutions, wars and invasions are commonplace and most of the rulers came to power as a result of military coups a generation ago. Even in such a troubled region the nature and texture of current uprisings is qualitatively different. It *Dr. David Khabaz received his PhD in 2000 at the London School of Economics. He is currently a Sociology professor at the University of Westminster in London. Prior to his arrival at the University of Westminster, David held teaching positions at the London School of Economics, University of London’s Birkbeck College and the Open University in London. He has authored a number of publications including a book entitled Manufactured Schema: Thatcher, the miners and the culture industry which was published in 2006. His most recent article, “The Poverty of Tabloid Journalism: A Post-Mortem to the News of the World,” was published in 2011 in the Chartist Magazine. His research interests are mainly in the field of democracy, human rights and citizenship in the Arab world. 2 started spontaneously in Tunisia in 2011, and rapidly spread across geopolitical boundaries through Facebook, Twitter and smart phones and has arisen from no particular political group or with any real organisation. For generations, the Arabs of North Africa, Syria and the Gulf seemed to accept tokens of democracy, if there were any, given by kings, Emirs and presidents, who suppressed dissent and rewarded their extended families and supporters with the income from oil. In many ways, neo-colonialism has to be seen as a major cause.1 In the interests of the region’s ‘stability’— and for the murkier reasons of oil and money—various Western governments continually supported, armed and protected regimes in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and North Africa that, by any normal standards of progress, should have been consigned to the dustbin of history several generations ago.2 One of the most startling features of the current uprisings is the common cry for change by all classes and age groups that have simply grown tired of corruption and economic and social deprivation.3 An explicit demand for freedom lies at the heart of the movements . There is a deep desire to do away with existing power structures which are obstructing the achievement of this noble aim. The unemployed youth are clearly the driving force behind the movements. Recent research (including this study) indicates that the youth form a staggering 30 to 40 percent of the total population in the region; most of them are aged under 25. Similarly, recent Gallup research has shown that the rate of unemployment amongst the youth hovers between 26 percent (Saudi Arabia) and 49 percent in Yemen. (See Table I). 1 See: Nathaniel Davis, ‘From colonialism to Neo-Colonialism: Nationalism, Islam and the Framing of Conflicts in Afghanistan’, Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Spring 2010, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp 1- 21 2 For an excellent exposition of the origins of dictatorship in the Middle East see Adrian Hamilton’s...