The Arab Spring
Which, of the many disciplines used in “International Studies” can explain the current crisis "The Arab Spring"? “International Studies” applies many different disciplines, in order to look at something from different point of views. Some of the disciplines it uses are; history, geography, anthropology, economics and political science. When looking at a crisis as complicated as this one, one could easily use all of these disciplines. Since that could take a great amount of time to study, this paper will only focus on the disciplines: political science, economics and geography. This paper will try to explain; why the Arabs rebelled? What caused the series of demonstrations and protest that lead to an uprising in the Arab world?
The location of the Middle East is important, in understanding the on-going conflict in the region. The Middle East has throughout history acted as an economic and cultural crossroad. It is strategically located, in between three continents- Africa, Asia and Europe. It has Strategic Waterways; amongst them is the Suez Canal in Northern Egypt that allows merchant ships to sail from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and into the Indian Ocean. Thereby, allowing them to avoid backtracking around Africa. Not only that, the region is also oil rich, and has other natural resources. All these factors, have led to the colonization of the Middle East:” The political, economic, and cultural domination of Middle Eastern societies by European power- transformed the Middle East in many ways." This transformation paved the way for instability and corruption. ”The transition from colonies to states was difficult....Local leaders seized control of administrative apparatuses, which had been designed not to govern but role, and remove natural resources and sell them abroad.” Therefore, it is important to look at geography, in order to understand the geopolitical importance that the Middle East has.
The dictatorships and...