Arab Spring

"Arab Spring" is a term used to describe a series of popular protest movements and demonstrations across the Arab world in the first few months of 2011. Sparked by successful protests in Tunisia in December 2010, the Arab Spring was characterized by mass rallies that were often dominated by young Arabs fluent in Internet social networking services. By February 2011, the Arab Spring had resulted in the resignation of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Given the movement's early success in Tunisia and Egypt, the spirit of revolt spread rapidly throughout the Arab world, with differing results. The Libyan government was overthrown in August 2011, but in Bahrain and Jordan violent crackdowns by police and sometimes the military have so far succeeded in keeping long-time rulers in power. Syria's longstanding government still clings to power, but, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a protracted civil war had killed nearly two hundred thousand by late 2014. Meanwhile, in other states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco, demonstrations either never took hold or were quickly suppressed.

In-Depth Summary

The Arab Spring can be traced back to December 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire in protest of Tunisian police corruption. His self-immolation was the catalyst of a wave of revolutionary unrest known as the Tunisian Revolution or Jasmine Revolution. Using street demonstrations and riots to protest social and political issues, the Tunisian Revolution succeeded in ousting President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. Encouraged by the success in Tunisia, the campaign of civil resistance spread to other countries in the Arab world, giving rise to the term "Arab Spring." At the time, analysts described the Arab Spring as a revolutionary shift toward Western-style democratic ideals and cultural trends. This was most apparent in young activists' extensive use of Internet networking services, such as Facebook and Twitter, to communicate and organize demonstrations.

The months and years since February 2011, though, have yielded mixed results. Tunisia stands out as the only country that was able to quickly hold elections and form an effective democratic government; Syria, meanwhile, has fallen into a violent civil war mired in tens of thousands of deaths and myriad human rights violations, and Egypt's government, headed by Mohamed Morsi between 2012 and 2013, was widely criticized for its apparent grabs for dictatorial power.

Characteristics of Arab Spring Uprisings

Similarities

The waves of unrest across the Arab world have shared some similarities, which suggest evidence of a general Arab awakening. Analysts have cited some major themes of the Arab Spring, including:

• Participation by many young Arabs and college graduates, many of whom have been unable to find jobs in economies with overwhelmingly young populations.
• The use of social media sites, notably Facebook and Twitter, in helping to organize and direct protests and avoid police crackdowns.
• In the early days of the uprisings, the absence or late arrival of Islamist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, in overthrowing regimes widely regarded as friendly toward the West.

In a May 2011 interview with Der Spiegel, French demographer Immanuel Todd attributed the Arab Spring to three linked aspects of demographics: "the rapid increase in literacy, particularly among women; a falling birthrate; and a significant decline in the widespread custom of endogamy, or marriage between first cousins." Taken together, these cultural changes challenge traditional male authoritarian practices on levels of both family and nation, and they suggest that "Arab societies were on a path toward cultural and mental modernization, in the course of which the individual becomes much more important as an autonomous entity."

Differences

Despite the common themes of the Arab Spring, each nation's unique features affected events in specific ways. In Bahrain, for example, there was a clear division between anti-government protesters, who were mostly Shiite Muslims, and government supporters, who were mainly Sunnis. In Yemen, the protests echoed Yemen's long division between North and South (which were united in 1990) as well as the continuing role of tribal warlords. In Libya, the main seat of rebellion was in the Egypt-oriented eastern region known as Cyrenaica, which was joined with western Libya (Tripolitania) by the colonial power, Italy, in the 1930s.

The Arab Spring across the Middle East

Tunisia

Until the events of December 2010, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's twenty-three-year-long authoritarian regime had been marked by high unemployment, corruption, food inflation, and a lack of free speech. On December 17, a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid following a confrontation with a local policewoman. Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and harassment ignited public outrage and sparked a series of protests that quickly spread to the Tunisian capital. The explosive street protests that followed became known as the Jasmine Revolution or the Tunisian Revolution.

During the weeks of unrest and rioting, security forces and the police began cracking down on demonstrators, resulting in increased violence between protesters and Tunisian authorities. Police forces used tear gas and in some cases fired on rioting crowds. According to government figures, seventy-eight protesters died and ninety-four were injured during the demonstrations. In the final days of President Ben Ali's rule, the Tunisian military stepped in to control both the rioters and police forces loyal to the government, refusing to fire on civilians. On January 14, President Ben Ali left the country for exile in Saudi Arabia, though his departure did not end demonstrations.

In late January, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi stepped in as head of an interim government of unity that would rule until elections could be organized. However, Ghannouchi had been a longtime ally of President Ben Ali, and he faced widespread public opposition and accusations of cronyism; he resigned on February 27. Beji Caid Essebsi then became the interim prime minister. In March, a Tunisian court dissolved Ghannouchi's former party, the Rally for Constitutional Democracy, and in April Ben Ali and members of his government were charged with voluntary manslaughter.

Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held on October 23, 2011, with Ennahda, a formerly banned moderate Islamist party, winning a plurality of seats. The assembly elected Moncef Marzouki to be the country's president on December 12, 2011. Marzouki in turn appointed Hamadi Jebali as his prime minister. The elected representatives then began drafting a revision of the Tunisian constitution. The final version of the constitution was signed into law in January 2014.

Key Figures:

• Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali: president of Tunisia from November 1987 to January 2011. Ben Ali and members of his extended family have been widely accused of corruption. Ben Ali fled the country on January 14, 2011.
• Beji Caid Essebsi: prime minister of Tunisia from February to December 2011. He was elected president in 2014.
• Mohamed Ghannouchi: prime minister of Tunisia from 1999 to February 2011. Leader of the ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD party), Ghannouchi intended to form a new unity government after the departure of Ben Ali; announced commissions to investigate corruption, human rights abuses, and political reforms; ordered the release of all political prisoners; promised an end to censorship; and scheduled free elections within six months. Ghannouchi stepped down on February 27.
• Rashid Ghannouchi (unrelated to Mohamed): exiled leader of the Renaissance Party (Ennahda), an Islamist opposition party banned from political participation since 1989.
• Moncef Marzouki: president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. Before becoming president, he was an activist and human rights advocate and the founder of the Congress for the Republic party. When the party was banned in 2002, he left Tunisia for France, returning only in 2011 after Ben Ali fled the country.
• Democratic Constitutional Rally: the sole legal political party under the rule of President Ben Ali. The RDC was previously known as the Socialist Destourian Party (PSD).
• Ennahda: an Islamist group similar to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood that has been banned since 1989. Led by Rashid Ghannouchi, Ennahda was legalized as a political party in March and allowed to participate in planned elections. Ennahda did not play a major role in the 2011 uprising, but it holds broad popular support.
• October 18 Movement: Coalition of opposition parties founded in 2005.

Egypt

On January 25, 2011, protests erupted throughout Egypt during a "Day of Revolt" to protest President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian government and speculations that Mubarak was grooming his son, Gamal Mubarak, to succeed the presidency. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Cairo's Tahrir ("Liberation") Square, and while the demonstrations were quickly shut down, protesters returned in increasing numbers the next day. For the next three days, hundreds of thousands of protesters swarmed the streets, rioting and looting, as police forces attempted to uphold the state. On January 28, Mubarak ordered his entire cabinet to resign and, for the first time in thirty years, appointed a vice president—although Mubarak himself did not step down.

Mubarak's new government failed to appease the protesters, and various secular parties and opposition groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, united to demand Mubarak's resignation and to support Mohamad El Baradei, who emerged as a leading critic of the Mubarak regime. Egyptian troops and protesters also fraternized, and on January 31 the Egyptian army announced that it would no longer fire on protesters. With the United States' urging, Mubarak announced that he would no longer run for election, but his concession was insufficient to quell the demonstrations across Egyptian cities. In February, the government struck back in and around Tahrir Square with pro-government supporters.

Mubarak was expected to announce his resignation on February 10; instead, he vowed not to leave office. The next day, however, Mubarak resigned and moved to his estate in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. The Supreme Council dissolved Egypt's parliament and suspended the constitution. The Egyptian military, which had long avoided involvement in politics, assumed power under the edifice of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), promising to organize elections for a new government and a new constitution within six months. In the meantime, Essam Sharaf, an academic and former transportation minister under Mubarak, was appointed interim president after widespread protests against Mubarak's prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, whom the military had named as head of the caretaker government.

Protests and violent clashes between protesters and police continued throughout the year as demonstrators called for greater reforms, the resignations of additional members of the Mubarak-era government, and the prosecution of Mubarak himself and his family for the deaths of protesters.

Parliamentary elections were eventually held between November 2011 and January 2012, and legislative power was formally transferred to this newly elected People's Assembly on January 23, 2012. However, only a few months later, on June 14, 2012, the country's Supreme Court ruled that the laws governing the parliamentary elections had been illegal, resulting in the dissolution of the parliament and the SCAF's resumption of legislative power. The SCAF then formed a 100-person committee to draft a new constitution. Demonstrators reassembled in Tahrir Square in protest.

The presidential election began in May 2012, and Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, was announced as the winner on June 24; he was sworn in on June 29, 2012. His presidency proved somewhat divisive. He reconvened the parliament the Supreme Court had dismissed, and in which his own party and its allies had a plurality, shortly after being sworn in. He also asked for the resignations of and fired members of the SCAF, prompting speculations of a power struggle between him and the military. A declaration he issued on November 22, 2012, that was purported to protect parliament from judicial interference as it drafted a new constitution, gave him unchallengeable legislative authority. After widespread protests, he qualified the scope of the powers he intended to use but left the language of the declaration unaltered. On December 8, 2012, he annulled the decree but stated that decisions made under it would remain in effect.

Mubarak, who was placed under house arrest soon after his resignation, was interrogated in April 2011 under suspicion of corruption and abuse of power. He was formally charged on May 24, 2011, with premeditated murder, among other charges, for his role in the deaths of protesters earlier that year. He, along with his two sons and former interior minister, Habib al-Adli, stood trial between August 2011 and January 2012. Mubarak and al-Adli were convicted of negligence in the deaths of the protesters on June 2, 2012, and sentenced to life in prison. Mubarak, who was reported to have suffered a heart attack and become ill with cancer in 2011, was believed to have fallen gravely ill. However, in 2013, a successful appeal granted retrials. By November 2014, an Egyptian court had acquitted Mubarak of the murder charges and the only remaining conviction of corruption was overturned in January 2015. Although he and his sons were once again sentenced to three and four years in prison, respectively, in a retrial of the corruption case in May, it was suspected that they would go free because of time already served.

Morsi faced a somewhat similar fate when he was ousted from office by the military in 2013. The general of the armed forces, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was elected to take over as president in a new round of elections in 2014. Meanwhile, Morsi was held and faced several trials. In early 2015 he was sentenced to twenty years in prison for the killing of protestors outside of his palace in 2012, and only months later he was sentenced to death for his role in a massive prison break in 2011.

Key Figures:

• Habib al-Adly: Interior Minister of Egypt from 1997-2011. On January 28, al-Adly and the rest of the Cabinet were ordered to resign by President Mubarak. Accused of various corruption charges, al-Adly was arrested following the revolution and sentenced to twelve years in prison.
• Mohammed Badie: leader of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood since 2010. In April 2015, he was sentenced to death for inciting violence against the state.
• Mohamad El Baradei: a leading critic of the Egyptian government and former Nobel Prize winner for his work with the International Atomic Energy Agency. El Baradei returned to Egypt as a possible presidential candidate and gained the support of several secular and opposition parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Amr Moussa: Egyptian foreign secretary from 1991-2001 and secretary-general of the Arab League from 2001-2011. Moussa is a popular politician and ran for president in the 2011 elections.
• Mohamed Morsi: president of Egypt since from 2012 to 2013. His presidency was controversial, with indications of a power struggle between him and the military and distrust from liberal and secular groups, many of whom believed he intended to undo the democratic reforms they had sought.
• Gamal Mubarak: son of Hosni Mubarak. It was widely speculated that Gamal was being groomed to inherit the title of president, although both Hosni and Gamal denied this claim. This potential succession was one of the focal points of the revolution.
• Hosni Mubarak: president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. With emergency law in effect since 1981 and accusations of corruption and police brutality, Mubarak was considered an authoritarian ruler. He resigned in February 2011 and stood trial for ordering police forces to fire on peaceful protesters during the revolution. He was sentenced to life in prison.
• Ayman Nour: Egyptian dissident and chairman of the secular el-Ghad ("Tomorrow") party. El-Ghad gained legal recognition in 2004—the only opposition party to do so—but Nour was arrested the following year. In the 2011 revolution, Nour emerged as one of preeminent leaders taking part in discussions of transition.
• Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: general in charge of the Egyptian military who led the armed forces in a coup that overthrew Morsi in 2013. He was elected president in 2014.
• Omar Suleiman: named vice president of Egypt in January 2011. Suleiman spearheaded multiparty discussions about forming a transitional government but ceased holding the vice presidency when Mubarak resigned and handed control over to the Armed Forces Supreme Council.
• Mohammed Hussein Tantawi: Egypt's former defense minister and head of the Armed Forces Supreme Council, which took charge after the departure of Mubarak and Suleiman. Critics have accused Tantawi of being too closely aligned with the previous government and being incapable of transitioning to true democracy.
• April 6 Youth: a Facebook group created in 2008 to support striking workers in el-Mahalla el-Kubra. The movement has been credited with helping organize mass demonstrations against Mubarak in 2011.
• El-Ghad ("Tomorrow"): an opposition party that gained legal recognition in 2004 after a campaign by Ayman Nour. El-Gahd, a centrist liberal secular party, calls for rotating power and widening the scope of political participation.
• Muslim Brotherhood: the strongest and most well organized opposition party in Egypt. An Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood has been formally outlawed but unofficially tolerated since it renounced violence in the 1970s. In the 2011 revolution, the Brotherhood emerged as the best organized party and became a leading political force.
• New Democratic Party (NDP): Egypt's de facto single party inside an official multiparty system. The NDP wielded uncontested power in state politics until it was dissolved in April 2011.

Jordan

The 2011 Jordanian protests were sparked by widespread discontent over food inflation and salaries. Given the early successes of revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, demonstrators (at the urging of the Muslim Brotherhood) took to the streets to protest the government's economic policies. Starting on January 28, 2011, activists from the Muslim Brotherhood, trade unions, and communist and leftist organizations flooded the streets to demand political reform.

On February 1, days after the first demonstration in Amman, Jordanian King Abdullah II dismissed his prime minister and entire cabinet in order to quickly quell the unrest. King Abdullah replaced Prime Minister Samir Rifai with Marouf al-Bakhit and appointed a new cabinet. He also appointed a special committee to consider legal reforms and amendments to the constitution.

Following the cabinet changes, demonstrations continued for several months, mostly peacefully, though there were some clashes between protesters and government loyalists. The government also continued to go through shake-ups, with al-Bakhit resigning in October 2011 and his replacement, Awn al-Khasawneh, resigning in April 2012.

Protests largely died down in early 2012 as the conflict in neighboring Syria heated up and demonstrators became wary of sparking a similar situation in Jordan. They were revived in the fall, though, after Prime Minister Fayez al-Tarawneh increased fuel prices in the midst of economic hardships and allegations of corruption. Al-Tarawneh stepped down in October 2012 and was replaced by Abdalla Ensour. Despite the change, by 2015 most promised reform initiatives had fallen short.

Key Figures:

• King Abdullah II: king of Jordan since 1999. Considered strongly pro-Western and an important American ally, King Abdullah also has focused on checking the strengthening Islamist movement. Despite the dismissal of the prime minister and cabinet in early 2011 and a series of other reshufflings and promised reforms, his government has continued to be hounded by protestors.

Yemen

Inspired by the Tunisian Revolution, mass demonstrations erupted in early 2011 against Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had held power since 1978. Initially, the demonstrators protested unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption, as well as Saleh's campaign to change the constitution and remain president for life (his term at the time was scheduled to end in 2013). On February 2, President Saleh announced that he would suspend that campaign and also not seek to name his son as his successor, among other concessions. Tens of thousands of protesters rallied throughout February, increasingly focusing their criticism on Saleh and calling for his resignation. On February 11, violence erupted between pro- and anti-government protesters, and within a week the Yemeni military was posted near protest sites while police launched a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators. Tribal groups joined the demonstrations by the end of February.

On March 18, security forces and government supporters opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, killing at least fifty. President Saleh responded by firing his cabinet, while other government officials resigned from their positions or threw their support behind the protestors. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (an alliance of conservative states) stepped in to mediate the conflict and help plan a transition of power to a unity government. In April, Saleh said he had agreed to the GCC's plan, in which he would leave office at the end of the month, on the condition that he and his family would receive immunity. The immunity clause did not satisfy the protestors, who argued he was playing for time. In fact, on May 18 and again on May 22, President Saleh refused to sign the GCC plan and reversed his stance.

At the end of May, the political crisis escalated into violence as fighting broke out between government forces and tribal forces in the capital, indicating that Yemen was slipping into civil war between longtime rival forces. On June 3, a rocket attack on the presidential palace injured Saleh and seven other top government officials, and Saleh was taken to Saudi Arabia to be treated. In his absence, he gave power to his vice president, Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi. Protests continued throughout the summer, and on November 23, 2011, Saleh, who had returned to Yemen in September, agreed under pressure from the GCC to step down and transfer power to Hadi. A presidential election in February 2012, in which Hadi was the only candidate, confirmed his position.

As the Houthis, a rebel anti-government group, continued to pressure Hadi, the president and his entire cabinet resigned in early 2015, leaving the country in political turmoil. After seizing control of the capital, the Houthis declared that a Revolutionary Committee would take over as an interim authority. Hadi later rescinded his resignation but remained in exile as forces allied with his government fought to retake control from the Houthis, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths.

Key Figures:

• Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi: current president and former vice president of Yemen. Received power through a transition agreement imposed on former President Ali Abdullah Saleh by the Gulf Cooperation Council. He was forced into exile by the Houthis in 2015.
• Ali Abdullah Saleh: ruled Yemen from 1978 to 2011. In 1990, President Abdullah united the northern and southern halves of the country. Long known for his devious and manipulative behavior, Abdullah saw his rule threatened since the uprisings in May 2011.
• General People's Congress Party: ruling party of former President Saleh and current president Hadi.
• Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): a bloc comprised of six Sunni monarchies: Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar. Since the uprisings, the GCC has attempted to bolster the securities of the monarchies by using money to placate protesters and suppress opponents. In May, invitations were extended to Jordan and Morocco.

Bahrain

The wave of revolutionary demonstrations reached Bahrain in February 2011; on February 14, anti-government protests were first staged in the capital of Manama. Motivated by reform in Tunisia and Egypt, the Bahrain Uprising initially intended to peacefully appeal for political reform and greater political freedom—most of the protesters were Shiites, who comprise 70 percent of the population, while the monarchy and business elites are Sunni. Thousands of protesters gathered in Manama's Pearl Square, gathering momentum as their numbers grew. Police fired rubber bullets and birdshot into the crowd at any sign of protest, killing one and injuring two dozen. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa apologized for the violence and instructed the police force to allow the protesters free rein of the square.

The Bahraini government initially appeared willing to offer concessions, but on February 17, police cracked down on the Pearl Square protesters, firing shotguns, tear gas, and concussion grenades at the sleeping crowd. Several people died, and hundreds were wounded. Despite the crackdown, protesters surged into Pearl Square, demanding increasing reforms from the government, a constitutional monarchy, and the dismissal of the prime minister. While the government offered small concessions by releasing political prisoners and dismissing several ministers, the opposition responded negatively, arguing that those were not the reforms they wanted and the government was trying to avoid the core problems.

In mid-March, King Hamad invited troops from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to serve as reinforcements to quell protests in Manama. He then issued a state of emergency, giving the state's security forces increased powers. Security forces cracked down on the demonstrations at Manama to clear out protestors, killing and wounding some in the process. The government also tore down the Pearl Monument, which had grown to symbolize the protest movement.

After the emergency law was enacted, Bahrain began to resemble a police state, with mass arrests, mass firings, and reports of torture. In May, King Hamad called for public dialogue while continuing to reject demonstrations. On June 1, the emergency law was lifted and protests resumed, many of which were marked by deadly clashes with police and other security forces. These protests carried on well into the spring and summer of 2012, and thousands of demonstrators were arrested. Protests were banned on October 30, 2012, purportedly to avert violence, a move which drew criticism from the UN as well as human rights groups. Despite the ban, however, they have continued.

Key Figures:

• King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa: Sunni Muslim king of Bahrain since 1999. Despite his crackdown on protesters, King Hamad is an important ally of the US in the war on terrorism and countering Iranian influence.
• Hassan Mushaima: an opposition leader who had been living in voluntary exile. When the protests began, Mushaima returned in a leadership role to encourage protestors not to back down.
• Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa: crown prince of Bahrain. Al-Khalifa called for a national dialogue and period of mourning after the police crackdowns.
• Sheikh Ali Salman: Shia cleric and leader of Al Wefaq. Salman was exiled in 1996 for demanding the reinstatement of the constitution but returned to Bahrain in 2001.
• Al Wefaq: Bahrain's largest political party and main opposition group. Several members of Al Wefaq withdrew from parliament on February 27 to protest the violent police crackdown on demonstrators in Pearl Square. Al Wefaq's religious orientation is Shia.

Libya

On February 16, 2011, several hundred demonstrators gathered in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, to protest the arrest of human rights activist Fathi Terbil. The next day, thousands more gathered in Benghazi, Tripoli (the capital), and three other locations to stage a "Day of Rage" in protest of longtime leader Muammar al Qaddafi and his 41-year regime. Twenty people died in clashes with pro-government demonstrators as security forces cracked down on Tripoli. The mid-February revolts marked the beginning of what evolved as a de facto civil war, in which the Qaddafi regime deployed the Libyan military to attack anti-Qaddafi demonstrators.

At the time, the Libyan military was a relatively small force that Qaddafi, since gaining power in a bloodless military coup, had kept weak and divided to ensure it could never rebel against him. The military was allied along tribal lines, which Qaddafi believed he could manipulate, rather than by a military leader. Qaddafi's own clan benefited from the loyalty of the air force and the upper level of army officers; in addition, Qaddafi had built up a special paramilitary force that included the three thousand-member revolutionary guard, which was responsible for guarding him personally. More significant was Qaddafi's Pan Arabic Brigade, a contingent of 2,500 mercenaries hired from Chad, Sudan, and Niger.

On February 25, pro-Qaddafi security forces in Tripoli used gunfire to disperse demonstrators preparing to protest the earlier government crackdown. Rebel forces from around the country began mounting around Tripoli, but pro-Qaddafi forces also massed around the city. Air power proved to be a critical advantage to the government forces, which were able to loosen the rebels' hold on bases, cities, and planes they had captured.

In response to the violent government crackdowns, the United Nations Security Council condemned the attacks and issued sanctions on Qaddafi and his inner circle, authorizing member nations to "take all necessary measures" to protect civilians. On March 19, the United States and other NATO forces launched air strikes and missile attacks against Libya's air defense systems, implementing a "no-fly zone" to protect anti-government demonstrators from government air strikes. While initially fraught with controversy over the mission's leadership and strategic goals, NATO forces continued to attack Libyan positions for more than two months, including bombing raids on Qaddafi's alleged headquarters. Meanwhile, the opposition forces, while poorly organized and lacking both leadership and experience, were no longer significantly outmatched by the capabilities of Qaddafi's forces. In addition, they no longer appeared plagued by the tribal divisions that Qaddafi had sought to exploit.

In late August, these opposition forces succeeded in capturing Tripoli and overthrowing the Qaddafi government. On September 16, 2011, leaders of these forces, calling themselves the National Transitional Counsel (NTC), were formally recognized as the new Libyan government by the UN. Qaddafi himself was eventually captured, and killed, on October 20, 2011, in Sirte, where he and some of his officials had attempted to reform their government. The civil war officially ended a few days later on October 23.

The NTC held power until August 8, 2012, when it was formally transferred to the General National Congress that had been elected on July 7, 2012. The congress continues to govern under an NTC-created interim constitution and as of late 2015 a commission was at work on drafting a permanent constitution, which would then be approved by referendum.

Key Figures:

• Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi: Longtime ruler of Libya. Qaddafi gained power in a military coup in 1969 and ruled Libya with an iron fist, developing a strong cult of personality. The United States had no diplomatic relations with Libya until 2003, when Qaddafi began cooperating in the war on terror, renounced anti-Zionist views, and sought to improve ties with the United States. His government was overthrown with the capture of Tripoli by opposition forces in August 2011, and he was killed soon after his capture in Sirte on October 20, 2011.
• The National Transitional Counsel: the governing body of Libya after the ouster of Qaddafi in August 2011 until the formation of the General National Congress on August 8, 2012. It was formed on February 27, 2011, as the political leadership of the opposition forces and created the interim constitution that continues to govern the country.

Syria

While Syria initially appeared resistant to the wave of unrest across the Arab world, demonstrations began breaking out in cities in mid-March 2011. On March 16, a silent gathering in Damascus of approximately 150 people was suppressed from the start, resulting in thirty arrests on the first day and three deaths in the city of Dara'a two days later. Protests that spread to other Syrian cities were also met by violent crackdowns by security forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

Throughout the spring of 2011, the Syrian government continued to waver between violent crackdowns and moderate concessions; by May 31, it was reported that one thousand people had been killed and as many as ten thousand were missing or in custody. Though the government claimed to have gained the upper hand at the end of May, a video showing the tortured body of a thirteen-year-old boy reinflamed the protests. On July 3, over one hundred people were killed when Syrian tank units raided several major cities.

As clashes persisted into the fall and the winter of 2012, opposition forces began taking control of western cities like Idlib, Homs, and Hama and came within a few miles of the capitol, Damascus. The Syrian army then deployed additional troops to beat back the rebels and recaptured much of the territory it had lost. With the help of the UN, a ceasefire was instituted on April 12, but it quickly broke down as both government and opposition forces continued to stage attacks. In July, opposition forces staged a covert strike on the capitol that became known as the Battle of Damascus. They succeeded in killing four government ministers before the Syrian Armed Forces deployed tanks and helicopters to force their retreat. That same month marked the beginning of the Battle of Aleppo, a protracted confrontation that was still ongoing in the summer of 2013. Though attacks and counterattacks continued throughout the country in early 2013, by the summer neither the Syrian government nor the opposition has had yet succeeded in gaining the upper hand.

In May of 2013, the UN estimated that eighty thousand people had been killed in Syria's civil war and four million displaced. In the spring of 2013, allegations emerged that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against the rebels, promoting many NATO governments to reconsider the depth of their involvement in the conflict. In addition, the conflict has grown even more complicated since the emergence of the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Though the opposition forces fight under several banners, most fall within the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which was formed on July 29, 2011, and is mostly composed of volunteer civilians and defectors from the government's Syrian Armed Forces. The opposition's political leadership is even more fractured. Major groups include the Syrian National Coalition, formed on November 11, 2012, from a variety of opposition groups with the aim of aiding the FSA and overthrowing the Assad government, and the National Coordination Committee, a left-wing bloc of parties favoring dialogue with the Assad government and a gradual transition of power.

Key Figures:

• Bashar Assad: president of Syria since 2000 and son of the previous president, Hafez al-Assad, who had assumed office in 1970. The early hope that he might oversee democratic reforms in the country was dashed by his crackdown on Arab Spring protesters in 2011 and the subsequent bloody civil war.
• Free Syrian Army (FSA): the opposition forces' main military group. Formed on July 29, 2011, and mostly composed of defectors from the Syrian military and civilian volunteers.
• Syrian National Coalition (SNC): one of the larger political leadership groups linked to the opposition. Formed on November 11, 2012, by a merger of several smaller groups, it seeks to aid the FSA and overthrow the Assad government.
• National Coordination Committee (NCC): also one of the more influential of the opposition's political leadership groups, It is composed of thirteen left-wing political parties and favors a peaceful end to the conflict and a gradual transition of power from Assad.

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