Recent Protest Movements in the Arab World and Gulf States

While the 2011 Arab Spring captured global attention with its dramatic uprisings, the story of protest in the Arab world is far more complex and long-running than those eighteen pivotal days in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. From labor strikes that built momentum over decades to politically-motivated movements challenging Gulf monarchies, recent protest movements across the Arab world and Gulf states reveal diverse grievances, tactics, and outcomes that shaped the region’s political landscape.

Egypt’s labour unrest and the road to revolution
Jordan’s cycles of economic crisis and political response
The pivotal 1989 protests
Subsequent waves and the 2011 response
Morocco’s socioeconomic frustration and limited reform
Political protests in the Gulf states
Kuwait’s Orange Movement for electoral reform
Bahrain’s demand for political and civil rights

Egypt’s labour unrest and the road to revolution

The Egyptian uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011 didn’t emerge from nowhere. Many scholars argue the revolution originated years before 2011, with waves of workers’ strikes emerging after 2000. This labor activism laid crucial groundwork for the mass mobilization that would eventually force Mubarak from power.

The numbers tell a compelling story of escalating worker discontent. Over 1,600 labor protests occurred in Egypt between 2006 and the 2011 uprising, with industrial action spreading rapidly during the Tahrir Square protests. By early 2008, Egypt witnessed a massive general strike that shook the regime, prompting government concessions on wages and prices in an attempt to defuse growing anger.

When protests erupted on January 25, 2011, they drew on this history of labor organizing. Labor unions joined street protesters on February 9, with massive strikes rolling throughout the country. These work stoppages, combined with the occupation of public squares, created unbearable pressure on the government. Some observers believe labor strikes in the uprising’s final week were the tipping point that forced Mubarak’s resignation, as the Supreme Council’s immediate attempts to end strikes after taking power suggested deep concern about their impact.

The protesters’ demands extended beyond economic grievances. Egyptians focused on legal and political issues including police brutality, emergency laws, lack of political freedom, corruption, high unemployment, food-price inflation and low wages. After eighteen days of sustained protest, Mubarak stepped down on February 11, 2011, ending his thirty-year rule.

Jordan’s cycles of economic crisis and political response

Jordan’s protest history demonstrates how economic pressures repeatedly trigger political demands, creating a cyclical pattern of unrest and regime response. The kingdom has experienced multiple waves of protest since 1989, each following a similar trajectory of economic hardship leading to calls for political reform.

The pivotal 1989 protests

In April 1989, the Jordanian government increased prices of gasoline, licensing fees, alcoholic beverages and cigarettes by 15 to 50 percent under an IMF agreement. Riots erupted in Ma’an and spread to southern towns like Al-Karak and Tafila. Though triggered by economic measures, protesters’ demands quickly became political, calling for the prime minister’s dismissal, lifting of martial law, electoral reform, and removal of restrictions on freedom of expression.

King Hussein’s response set a pattern that would repeat for decades. The era from 1989 to 1993 started with massive protests, but the regime responded with a fairly extensive reform program, partial liberalization of political life, and restoration of parliamentary elections. The king sacked the prime minister, lifted martial law that had been in place since 1957, and resumed parliamentary elections paused since 1967.

Subsequent waves and the 2011 response

Large-scale protests against austerity reforms date to the late 1980s, with major waves in 1989 and 1996 large enough to shake the regime. Each time, protests emerged first in supposedly loyalist southern areas before spreading to the capital. The government’s responses alternated between political liberalization in the 1990s and economic subsidies and social programs in later years.

Following the Tunisian uprising in early 2011, Jordan experienced renewed protests, though Jordanians never cohered around calling for the fall of the regime, instead focusing largely on political reform. The government once again responded with promises of reform while implementing new social policies and increased spending to offset popular pressures.

Morocco’s socioeconomic frustration and limited reform

Morocco’s protest landscape reflects deep-rooted socioeconomic grievances, particularly around unemployment and the high cost of living. Egypt alone witnessed over 600 protests in the first three months of 2008, a figure higher than all of 2007, while Morocco and Jordan also saw significant social unrest.

The year 2007 marked a peak of protest activity in Morocco, with hundreds of episodes led by unions and activists against unemployment and rising costs. Throughout 2007, workers from both public and private sectors faced systematic targeting by security forces when they challenged restrictions on protests, with countless sit-ins broken up and protesters beaten, injured and arrested. The government exploited serious restrictions on the right to organize protests, refusing dialogue with unions and calling security forces to thwart workers’ demands.

However, the momentum of these protests subsided in later years. The striking feature of Morocco’s social protest activities was their distance from the formal political sphere, with established political actors and opposition parties remaining on the sidelines. Even popular Islamist movements had no significant influence, meaning protesters’ demands had only weak impact on political decision-making.

Political protests in the Gulf states

While protest remained relatively rare in Gulf states due to their authoritarian nature and oil wealth, Kuwait and Bahrain emerged as notable exceptions where citizens mobilized for political change.

Kuwait’s Orange Movement for electoral reform

In 2006, Kuwait’s Orange Movement mobilized a large number of young people and won support from politicians across different political groupings, ultimately pushing the government to accept demands for electoral reform. Also called Nabiha 5 (“We Want It Five”), the movement succeeded in reducing Kuwait’s electoral districts from 25 to 5.

The movement began with a simple idea to combat corruption and represented another step in reforming Kuwait’s political system. The site of Orange Movement rallies, which came to be known as Sahat al-Irada (the Square of Determination), quickly became the destination for all Kuwaitis wishing to air their views. The youth activists, initially ridiculed for challenging patriarchal authority, cemented their role as the vanguard of political change.

Emboldened by their 2006 success, political and public opinion coalesced into movements calling for electoral reform and government accountability. Kuwait’s relative political openness, with elections to the National Assembly since 1963, made it distinctive among Gulf states and created space for organized civic pressure.

Bahrain’s demand for political and civil rights

Bahrain’s 2011 uprising centered squarely on political demands. Protests beginning on February 14, 2011, largely consisted of members of the Shia majority demanding expanded political freedom and participation. The demonstrators called for constitutional reform, an elected government, and greater civil rights.

The Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the 45 percent Shia population, with demands later evolving to include calls for the prime minister’s resignation. Unlike economic protests elsewhere, Bahrain’s movement focused explicitly on political representation and ending discrimination.

The government’s response proved brutal. Protests were violently suppressed by Bahraini security forces, aided by a Gulf Cooperation Council security force composed of about 1,000 soldiers from Saudi Arabia and 500 police officers from the United Arab Emirates that entered the country in March 2011. Mass protests in 2011 were fueled by mounting discontent over authoritarianism, sectarianism in government employment and benefits, and refusal to provide accountability for torture and arbitrary detention.

What do you think? How do the different responses of governments to protests-from Jordan’s political liberalization to Bahrain’s violent crackdown-reflect the varying political structures and constraints in Arab states and Gulf monarchies? What role did economic versus political grievances play in determining protest outcomes across these different contexts?

References

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Recent Protest Movements in the Arab World and Gulf States

Table of Contents

Egypt’s labour unrest and the road to revolution 🔗

Jordan’s cycles of economic crisis and political response 🔗

The pivotal 1989 protests 🔗

Subsequent waves and the 2011 response 🔗

Morocco’s socioeconomic frustration and limited reform 🔗

Political protests in the Gulf states 🔗

Kuwait’s Orange Movement for electoral reform 🔗

Bahrain’s demand for political and civil rights 🔗