Abstract:
The Arab Spring is a series of anti-government protests spread across the Middle East
and the North African (MENA) region since 2011. It is a widespread concept that
Arab Spring is a ‘failed revolution. This study hypothesizes that the failure of the
Arab Spring revolution was due to the legitimate monopoly of the use of power
against citizens by the state. Background information related to a pre- and post-Arab-
Spring situation in Algeria, Egypt, and Syria was collected from published literature
and analysed in detail with the use of theories of International Relations such as social
deprivation theory, frustration and aggression theory, and the theory of modern states,
to understand how each state uses the legitimate monopoly of the power vested in
them to control uprisings. This analysis revealed that the regime in Algeria used a
mixture of soft and hard power to defeat the uprising. Egypt used the power vested in
it against the uprisings; however, it was unsuccessful and the military became the real
power, seizing the opportunity of the power vacuum in the country. The use of power
by the Syrian regime against the uprisings dragged the country into a civil war that
saw numerous international interventions. This analysis clearly shows that the
aspirations of the people who initiated the uprisings were not fulfilled. Of the three
countries, Algeria continues the same regime that existed prior to the uprising; Egypt
has fallen into a new autocratic rule led by a civilian style military backed by the
government; and Syria is engaged in a disastrous civil war that affects global security
and stability as well. Based on this study, it can be concluded that the people’s
revolution was defeated by the rulers of Algeria, Egypt, and Syria using the legitimate
monopoly of the use of force by the government.
