Social Movements have found success in the MENA region recently. Lets analyze why that may be the case. The main reason why people might oppose the preexisting government is because of their stance on many issues. For example, how oppressive are they? Are they interacting with their opposition or just stifling any criticism? As Gene Sharp mentions, social movements have different effects in different areas according to the culture and the already existing platform for social movements.
We must first consider how legitimate a current or standing government might be. Time and again, we have encountered leaders in the region whom the people feel a lack of trust for. In Tunisia the disparity between the government and the people is evident. This might be because Ben Ali’s regime was accused of corruption and the state was plagued by oppression from the elite.The government provided no support to its people. This catalyzed the social movement in Tunisia
Tunisia was also not a military state therefore, the police or military were not particularly inclined to either support the standing government or arrest and harass protesters.
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