Articles related to theArab Spring (2010-2012), a series ofpro-democracyanti-government protests,uprisings, andarmed rebellions that spread across much of theArab world in the early 2010s. It beganin Tunisia in response tocorruption andeconomic stagnation. From Tunisia, the protests initially spread to five other countries:Libya,Egypt,Yemen,Syria andBahrain. Rulers were deposed (Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia,Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, andHosni Mubarak of Egypt all in 2011, andAli Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in 2012) and major uprisings and social violence occurred, including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place inMorocco,Iraq,Algeria,Lebanon,Jordan,Kuwait,Oman andSudan. Minor protests took place inDjibouti,Mauritania,Palestine,Saudi Arabia and theWestern Sahara. The wave of initial revolutions and protests faded by mid to late 2012, as many Arab Spring demonstrations were met with violent responses from authorities, pro-government militias, counterdemonstrators, and militaries.
