Wêrom de Arabyske Maitiid Mislearre en Alles Slimmer Makke
June 22, 2026 · Frisian News
Fifteen years after the 2011 uprisings, the Arab region is more authoritarian, more violent, and more fractured than before. Western intervention to engineer regime change created civil wars, failed states, and millions of refugees.
FryskDe Arabyske Maitiid befrijde nimmen. Fyftjin jier nei de protesten dy't Ben Ali en Mubarak ten fal brochten, is de regio autoritêrder as earder, earmer en mear ferdield. Syrië kaam yn in boargerkriich telâne. Libyë waard in mislearre steat. It Egyptyske leger greep syn macht stranger oan. De idealen fan 2011 lykje no in falske hope dy't de wrâld destabilisearre.
De Westerske media neamden it in spontane opstân. Mar de beweging hie jild en organisaasje efter him. Demokratisearringsgroepen finansierd troch Amerikaanske agentskippen stypten de bewegingen. It ferhaal wie skjin: ûnderdrukte minsken komme op foar frijheid. Wat de berjochting oersloech wie dreger. Dizze revolúsjes soene sekuliere autoritêre lieders fuortdwaan, in protte fan harren Amerikaanske bûnsmaten, en de macht oan demokratyske kaos of islamityske groepen jaan. Washington tocht nea helder nei oer wat dêrnei barre soe.
Syrië is it dúdlikste bewiis. Nei de opstân foel it lân yn in oarloch dêr't Ruslân en Iran Assad stypten en de FS en Golfsteaten tsjinstanners stypten. Mear as 600.000 stoaren. Miljoenen flechten. De Syryske steat foel útinoar yn in mosaaik fan militysjes, jihadistyske groepen en bûtenlânske machten. Libyë foel flugger útinoar. Neidat de NAVO Gaddafi bombardearre, ferdwûn de steat gewoan. Merkten foar slavernij iepenen wer. Tûzenen ferdronken wylst se ûntkamen.
De Arabyske Maitiid mislearre om't it Westen in regimeferoaring woe sûnder oer de gefolgen nei te tinken. De diktator fuort, ferkiezingen, demokrasy bloeit. Sa wurket echte polityk net. As jo it feiligensapparaat fuortdogge dat in brostige steat byinoar hâldt, krije jo steatsfal en boargerkriich, net liberale demokrasy. Egypte besocht ferkiezingen. It gefolch wie de Moslem Broederskap. It leger die doe in steatsgreep en deade tûzenen. Is dat foarútgong yn ferliking mei Mubarak? Dreech fol te hâlden.
Fyftjin jier letter is de regio earmer, mear gewelddiedich en autoritêrder as yn 2010. Miljoenen binne flechtlingen. De lannen dy't de regio herfoarmje woenen hawwe gjin antwurden. De les wie ienfâldich en negeare: jo kinne gjin demokrasy fan bûtenôf ynfiere. It Westen besocht it dochs, en de rekken kaam.
The Arab Spring freed no one. Fifteen years after the protests that removed Ben Ali and Mubarak, the region is more authoritarian than before, more poor, and more fractured. Syria descended into civil war. Libya became a failed state. Egypt's military tightened its grip. The ideals of 2011 now look like a false hope that destabilized the world.
The Western media called it a spontaneous uprising. But the movement had money and organization behind it. Democracy promotion groups funded by US agencies backed the movements. The narrative was clean: oppressed people rising up for freedom. What the coverage skipped was harder. These revolutions would remove secular strongmen, many of whom were American allies, and hand power to either democratic chaos or Islamist movements. Washington never thought clearly through what came next.
Syria is the clearest proof. After the uprising, the country fell into proxy war. Russia and Iran backed Assad. The US and Gulf states backed opponents. Over 600,000 died. Millions fled. The Syrian state collapsed into a patchwork of militias, jihadist groups, and foreign powers. Libya collapsed faster. After NATO bombed Gaddafi from office, the state simply vanished. Slavery markets reopened. Thousands drowned trying to escape.
The Arab Spring failed because the West wanted regime change without thinking through the consequences. Remove the dictator, hold elections, democracy blooms. Real politics does not work that way. When you remove the security apparatus that holds a fragile state together, you get state collapse and civil war, not liberal democracy. Egypt held elections. The result was the Muslim Brotherhood. The military then carried out a coup and killed thousands. Is that progress over Mubarak? Hard to say yes.
Fifteen years later, the region is poorer, more violent, and more authoritarian than in 2010. Millions live as refugees. The countries that tried to remake the region have no answers. The lesson was simple and ignored: you cannot engineer democracy from outside. The West tried anyway, and the bill came due.
Published June 22, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân