Understanding the Arab Revolts

In our last class, you explored the macro, meso, and micro level factors that caused and/or facilitated the Arab Revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. As you know, these three cases had some common variables, but also differed in key variables (particularly the Libyan case, where the outcome was a civil war with NATO involvement, rather than a non-violent social movement). Key macro level variables, such as high youth unemployment/underemployment, were certainly not limited to the three countries we discussed yesterday, so clearly something else had to be introduced for a popular uprising to succeed.

On the micro level, the existence of civil society networks and informal structures of mobilization may have been crucial in facilitating the rise of a sustainable social movement in Tunisia and Egypt (again, Libya was different), but where do you think we find the key to the success/failure of a movement? Which variables must combine in order for a successful revolutionary social movement to take place? Use examples from other MENA countries, where mobilizations were not as successful as in Tunisia and Egypt.