International organizations and individual Western countries have promised to provide massive financial support to the Arab Spring countries but have not yet made good on their promises due to persistent instability.
President of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser said the United Nations must play a key role in supporting the democratic transition in Arab Spring countries. Addressing the participants in the conference of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s Middle East section, he said the new phase of the Arab Spring has started and it is time to move from the dream to serious work.
The conference, “Transformation in the Arab World and Russia’s Interests,” started in Sochi on Friday. It is sponsored by RIA Novosti, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. Its participants are discussing domestic political problems in the countries affected by the Arab Spring and the escalation of religious and ethnic tensions in the region.
Al-Nasser believes Arab countries need a new, effective economic system and deep political reforms. He noted with regret that the region has not yet witnessed economic growth at a level that could seriously reduce poverty and inequality. He admitted that there is no universal reform model because each country has its own historic and cultural features that must be taken into account.
The Arab Spring, the wave of demonstrations and protests in the Arab world, started in December 2010 after massive protests in Tunisia escalated into clashes with police. Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali lost control over the country and fled in the middle of January 2011. In a matter of several months massive protests swept other Arab countries—Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Jordan, Bahrain and Oman. Pressure from the opposition led to regime change in Egypt, Libya and Yemen and to tangible reforms in Morocco.
The countries where massive riots took place are registering a decline in production, a rise in unemployment and national debt, reduction of foreign reserves and disruptions in a number of industries. Tourism in these Arab countries has sustained serious damage.
Syria was the last country to be swept by massive unrest. Demonstrations started there in March of the last year and have now developed into bloody clashes between law enforcement and the armed opposition.
International organizations and individual Western countries have promised to provide massive financial support to the Arab Spring countries but have not yet made good on their promises due to persistent instability.
