"And by the way, where did the term “Arab Spring” come from?

The term “springtime of nations” was applied to the revolutionary upheavals in Europe in 1848. In France, the revolution against the monarchy led to free elections. Unfortunately the free elections were won by Louis Napoleon who made himself dictator, ruled for about two decades, and led his country into a disastrous war that was followed by bloody massacres. France did become a functioning democratic republic but it took almost a quarter-century.

Hungary had a nationalist upheaval. It became a free country afterward — 70 years later. It then went through a brief revolution followed by a dictatorship, followed by an alliance with Nazi Germany, followed by a Communist regime. Today, it’s a relatively happy and peaceful place; 142 years went by, though, after its springtime before that happened.

More recently, the term was applied to the Prague Spring of 1968, crushed by Soviet tanks. The country finally became a truly independent democracy, 32 years later.

But in Middle Eastern usage it comes from the “Beirut Spring” in which hundreds of thousands of Lebanese demonstrated against the Syrian military presence and domination of the country.

In the short term the Lebanese protesters won. But because of a lack of U.S. and Western help along with the ruthlessness of Syria, Iran, and their local allies (notably Hizballah), the Beirut Spring has been defeated. Syria is back in control to a large degree and while the Syrian-backed government (including Hizballah) has been kept at bay for months by bureaucratic maneuvers, presumably it will get into power at some point.

So the term “Arab Spring” is appropriate if we remember that the Beirut Spring, a good example of what’s being faced now, turned into the Beirut Winter."

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In a nutshell, the Arab Spring today refers to the overthrow of dictators who torture and murder any opposition in order to stay in power.

For other opinions and ideas about this subject, Google "Arab Spring What does it mean?"

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