Wêrom de Arabyske Maitiid mislearre en dingen slimmer makke
June 19, 2026 · Frisian News
Fifteen years after the Arab Spring uprisings, the region has less freedom and more conflict than before. Tunisia's media is suppressed, Syria lies in ruins, Libya is a failed state, and Yemen starves under war.
FryskFiftjin jier neidat de Tunesyske strjitferkeaper Mohamed Bouazizi himsels yn desimber 2010 yn brân stuts, hat de Arabyske wrâld minder frijheid en mear bloedferjitten as doe't de opstannen begûnen. Yn Tunesje allinne binne de persfrij-rankings ynsakke, Syrje leit yn pún mei mear as in miljoen deaden, Jemen stjerret fan honger ûnder in oarloch fan fiif jier, en Libje is útienrûn yn stammestriid. De Arabyske Maitiid sei befriding ta. It levere fersplintering op.
It Westerske ferhaal beskuldige de diktators altyd fan de opstannen. Wat it net erkende, wie dat de bewegings gjin ienriedige fyzje hiene op wat dêrnei komme soe. De Moslimbroederheid bea religieus bestjoer. Sekuêre aktivisten woene liberale demokrasy. Stamlieders woene dat de macht weromjûn waard oan harren. Doe't it stof del sakke, wûn wa't it measte wapens bieden koe.
Egypte is it dúdlikste gefal. Hosni Mubarak foel yn 2011 foar jûbeljende mannichten. Tsjin 2013 hie it leger Mohamed Morsi fan de Broederheid ferwidere en Generaal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ynsteld, dy't sûnt dy tiid mear politike tsjinstanners finzen set hat as Mubarak ea die. Deselde mannichten dy't de iene sterke man omsmiten hiene, seagen hoe't in slimmere syn plak ynnaam.
Bûtenlânske machten makken it slimmer, net better. De NATO-yntervinsje yn Libje stelde harsels foar as humanitêr. Wat it levere, wie in steat sa brokken dat it no slavenmerken hûsvestet. Saûdy-Arabje ûnderdrukke de Bahreinse opstân sûnder Westersk protest. De FS en Jeropa spruten oer frijheid wylst se wapens ferkeapen oan de oerlibbenen.
De ûnderlizzende ekonomyske problemen dy't de opstannen feroarsake hiene, ferdwûnen nea. Wurkleazheid ûnder jongeren, nepotisme, en grutte gatten tusken earm en ryk bleaunen bestean of ferslimmerden. Bewegings fiede troch brea, wurk en weardichheid kinne net op ideology allinne fuortbestean. Doe't de earste golf ôfnaam en de omstannichheden ferslimmerden, ferlearen minsken harren fertrouwen.
De Arabyske Maitiid mislearre net om't de diktators te sterk wiene. It mislearre om't it Westen chaos boppe feroaring stipe, de islamisten op totale macht spilen, en de liberalen gjin plan hiene. Fiftjin jier letter is it grutste part fan de regio slimmer ôf. Dy mislukking is net yn 'e stjerren skreaun. It waard makke troch karren, meastentiids sinistyske.
Fifteen years after Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, the Arab world has less freedom and more bloodshed than when the uprisings began. Tunisia alone has seen its media freedom rankings plummet, Syria lies in ruins with over half a million dead, Yemen is starving under the weight of a five-year war, and Libya has devolved into clan warfare. The Arab Spring promised liberation. It delivered fragmentation.
The Western narrative always blamed dictators for the uprisings. What it failed to acknowledge was that the movements had no unified vision of what came next. The Muslim Brotherhood offered religious governance. Secular activists wanted liberal democracy. Tribal leaders wanted power returned to their hands. When the dust settled, whoever could command guns won.
Egypt is the clearest case. Hosni Mubarak fell in 2011 to jubilant crowds. By 2013, the military had removed the Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and installed General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has since imprisoned more political opponents than Mubarak ever did. The same crowds that toppled one strongman watched a worse one take his place.
Foreign powers made it worse, not better. The NATO intervention in Libya sold itself as humanitarian. What it delivered was a state so broken it now hosts slave markets. Saudi Arabia crushed the Bahraini uprising with no Western complaint. The US and Europe talked freedom while selling weapons to the survivors.
The underlying economic problems that sparked the uprisings never went away. Youth unemployment, crony capitalism, and vast gaps between rich and poor remained or worsened. Movements fueled by bread, jobs, and dignity cannot survive on ideology alone. When the initial fervor faded and conditions got worse, people lost faith.
The Arab Spring did not fail because the dictators were too strong. It failed because the West backed chaos over change, the Islamists played for total power, and the liberals had no plan. Fifteen years later, most of the region is worse off. That failure is not written in the stars. It was made by choices, most of them cynical.
Published June 19, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân