THE ARAB SPRING AND BUSINESS 1
The Arab Spring and Business Implications for the Region
Abstract
The Arab Spring erupted in three main countries in northern Africa; Specifically Egypt, Libya,
and Tunisia. The upheaval was due to political and economic dissatisfaction of citizens with their
respective governments. The three countries were under an unjust Authoritarian Regime, which
lacked a justice system and basic civil liberties such as freedom of speech, expression, and the
THE ARAB SPRING AND BUSINESS 2
press, basically denying any participation in politics and decision-making. Although these
countries have been under these stressful political circumstances for decades, the economic
issues of high unemployment rates, unavailability of food and gas at affordable prices, and
decline in the value of currency within their own countries has caused the population to reach its
boiling point (Suwailem, 2014). Social media was the medium used in order to finally be able to
express their dissatisfaction on a global scale. Writing an article in the Newspaper about the
government in a negative light could get you killed, however now unemployed dissatisfied youth
were using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to protest their government’s
actions and mobilize millions of people to speak up against injustice and revolt against their
governments. Sadly the violence that erupted created an unstable security situation for many
companies and businesses causing the already bad economic situation to worsen.
Keywords: Arab Spring, Economy and Revolution, Security and Economy, Unemployment and
Revolution, 2011, Companies in Regions of Turmoil, Natural Resource Curse.
Executive Summary
The Arab Spring a revolution which occurred mainly in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia has
affected the economy in the entire region. The revolutions were sparked by political and
Economic dissatisfaction. There was no freedom of speech, expression, and press and no
political participation allowed. There was high unemployment rates in all three countries and
high price of food. The protest began peaceful but quickly turned violent destroying many
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infrastructures. After the collapse of the government, the political instability lead to the decline
of tourism, foreign direct investment, exports, and GDP from 4.2% to 2.2 % (Anderson, 2012).
The newly formed government is facing many challenges. The first Challenge is political
instability, specifically there are many parties fighting for power, and there are many armed
groups, and no democratic culture (Menkhaus, 2003). This has created security issues that
continues to cause decline in tourism. The second challenge is Economic instability. The third
challenge is increased government spending to pacify citizens. The main causes for these
challenges are the lack of Democratic values and education (Albrecht, 2012), the lack of a
political infrastructure in all three countries. Also the poor decisions made by the newly formed
government during the first few months of governing were devastating to the success of
democracy in those nations. Finally, education centers must begin teaching citizens about
democratic values. K-12 schools must create a curriculum which includes democracy. The
government must enhance communication with all groups and citizens and align all groups
within the Government.
Introduction
The Arab Spring was an eruption of revolutions that affected three countries in North
Africa: Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. These countries were all led by Dictators and ruled through an
authoritarian regime. The three leaders severely limited citizen freedoms to participate in
decision making, destroyed political infrastructure, allowed for corruption to take place for
personal gains, and made no plans to solve the problems of their citizens (Suwailem, 2014).
Unemployment among other causes was the driving cause of the Arab Spring. According to
statistics youth unemployment in Egypt and Tunisia was about 20%, and 30 % in Libya (Bibi,
2012). In all of these countries there was a high unemployment rate, a large gap between the rich
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and the poor eliminating the middle class, a rise in food prices and the cost of living, poverty,
corruption and inequality. In Egypt food prices rose about 20-30% in basic needs such as sugar,
meat, and tomatoes (Suwailem, 2014), while 50% of the population was living on $2/ day
(Albrecht, 2012).
Social Media played an important role in bringing these injustices to light. Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube, were mediums used by Tunisian youth activists trying to showcase the
injustices that cause Mohammed Bouazizi to burn himself alive after being denied a street
vendor permit (Suwailem, 2014). They were used by Egyptians to showcase police brutality
against Saeed Khaled a 28 year old who had propagated a video showing police stealing drugs
after a drug seizure (Anderson, 2012). In Libya videos of the Abu-Saleem prison massacre of
1600 individuals was used along with the Egyptian and Tunisian Example to entice protest
