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Journalism of Courage
For a sweep through the tumult that engulfed North Africa and West Asia in 2011 and continues till date, K P Fabian’s The Arab Spring That Was And Wasn’t is a quick yet detailed read. The author takes the reader through the countries that saw dramatic changes, or at least felt the impact of the unlikely beginning in Tunisia to the region’s decade of chaos.
Fabian, who retired from the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 2000, writes almost like an eyewitness, marshalling his knowledge of the region, media reports from the regional and international press, and some insider access. As a diplomat, he witnessed the Iranian Revolution of 1979, co-ordinated the evacuation of 175,000 Indians from Kuwait in 1990, after Iraq’s invasion of that country, and also served as India’s Ambassador to Qatar.
The book’s title reflects the false promise of a spring, except perhaps in the case of Tunisia, which transitioned into a democratic republic with a presidential form of government. Last year, though, that too was up in the air after President Kais Saied who leads the country now, got rid of all the trappings of democracy, and rewrote the constitution to give himself more powers.
Fabian provides a short history of the countries, flagging the role of external powers, including the United States, Russia, and former colonial powers such as France, as well as regional rivals such as Saudi, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, who messed the situation up even more.
Tunisia escaped their interventions, but the UAE funded the “deep state” orchestrated revolt against President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt; and the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a personal interest in the 2011 NATO campaign against Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, who had allegedly funded his 2007 election campaign. Libya, split between two rival leaders, remains unstable even today.
The continuing conflict in Syria has its roots in the quickly-suppressed Syrian Arab spring, which then morphed into a civil war with many sides, including forces backed by regional powers such as Iran and Turkey. Russia and the US followed; also in the mix were al-Qaeda and ISIS, which grew in the region’s fertile chaos. The war led to the destruction of Syria, and a massive humanitarian crisis and exodus of refugees to Europe.
Also included in the volume are countries in the region that felt minor tremors stamped out by the vigilant authoritarians ruling them — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain (where the Saudis intervened to help the Sunni monarchy in a Shia-dominant country), the UAE, Jordan, Morocco, and Algeria.
In Yemen, the fallout of the Arab Spring is playing out in a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and the UAE — both US proxies — and Iran. Millions have been displaced, and a Saudi-led blockade has led to massive starvation and malnutrition.
Explained Books summarises the core content of an important work of non-fiction.
