DUBAI (AFP) —A decade on, the turmoil of the Arab Spring that shook the oil-rich Gulf states has left a very different legacy, emboldening and empowering their conservative monarchies.
The collapse or decline of traditional Middle East powers like Syria and Egypt has allowed the Gulf to establish itself as the Middle East’s new center of gravity.
And the Gulf countries have seized the initiative, accelerating the transformation of their societies, building futuristic metropolises and breaking conventions with diplomatic initiatives, including establishing ties with Israel.
“The weakening of traditional Arab centers of power due to the Arab Spring… has made the Gulf, for the first time in modern history, the center of Arab power,” said Bader al-Saif, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University.
The Arab world was convulsed by popular uprisings starting in 2011, with street protests in several countries against despised regimes.
Egypt and Tunisia’s dictators were toppled. But the revolutionary wave descended into bloody civil war in Syria, Libya and Yemen. READ MORE
