1.An Eric Lamberth Production

2. The Spark:On that particular Friday morning Bouazizi was stopped by local police whohad been known to harass him over the years. Reportedly the police beat him, made slurs against his family, tossed his produce cart, and took his electronic weighing scales. Bouazizi went to the governors office to complain, however, the governorwould not see him. Desperate, enraged, and humiliated Mohamed went to a nearby gas station. He acquired a can of gasoline, returned to the governors office, and covered himself with the gas. He stood in the middle of trafficshouting how do you expect me to make a living? At 11:30 a.m., less than anhour after the incident with police, he lit himself on fire in an act known as self -immolation. 3. It is estimated that 600-700 protesters werekilled during the monthof February 2011 beforethe rebels took up armsagainst Gaddafi. Finallyaround March 19th 2011the UN Security CouncilAnother well-knownintervened with coalitionevent which resulted in forces to assist thean all-out civil war, the Libyan rebels in theirLibyanoffensive. On Octoberrevolution, began on20 2011 Gaddafi was15 February 2011.captured and killed. TwoLibyan leader, Coloneldays later the end of theMuammar Gaddafibegan a violent war wascampaign againstdeclared, however, fightiprotesters usingng continues to this day.artillery, warplanes, machine guns, andsecurity forces as wellas foreignmercenaries in ascorched earthstrategy. 4. Causes include human rights violations, economic decline, as well asextreme poverty caused by unemployment; a new generation of majority andeducated youth with the drive and determination to force a change.Globalization brings Western Culture to oppressed Middle Eastern countries.Women are becoming educated and fighting for equality for the first time everin some countries. Huge concentrations of wealth are in the hands of a selectfew. Social media takes the movements worldwide. Amnesty Internationalpointed to Wikileaks as a catalyst for the revolts by exposing governmentcorruption to the people. 5. Corrupt leaders and governments of several countries have been removedsometimes by force. Some social changes have been made ranging from monetarycompensation to ending longstanding emergency law. Many countries saw therelease of political prisoners while some saw the prosecution of criminals and theliquidation of their assets. Women gained the right to vote in some countrieswhile other countries were given the right to hold elections. On the other hand Islamic fundamentalists now have an open door to manyplaces where they were not tolerated in the past. People who have lived under therule of dictators for decades now find themselves in unfamiliar territory and arelooking for leadership. The current elections being held in Egypt is a whos who ofIslamic groups like Gamaa al-Islamiya, who claim to be former militants, andthe most prominent party the Muslim Brotherhood, were banned in Egypt forbeing extremists. Riots continue to this day and the entire region is in turmoil. 6. Article Resources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Bouazizihttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2044723,00.htmlhttp://www.thenation.com/article/158991/arab-springhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Springhttp://www.thenation.com/article/158991/arab-springhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/arab-springhttp://socialistworker.org/2011/11/29/debating-the-arab-springhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_revolutionhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/30/egypt-revolution-2011_n_816026.htmlhttp://globalvoicesonline.org/specialcoverage/egypt-protests-2011/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wael_Ghonimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmaa_Mahfouzhttp://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/8/asmaa_mahfouz_the_youtube_video_thathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Libyan_civil_warhttp://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/03/world/libya.civil.war/index.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Streethttp://occupywallst.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots 7. Photo Resources:Arab Spring: http://www.strategicoutlook.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/arab-spring.jpgMohamed Bouazizi: http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Mohamed%20Bouazizi.pnghttp://www.digitalproductionme.com/pictures/tunisia.jpgTunisian Revolution: http://voiceofdetroit.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Tunisia-bouazizi.jpghttp://nationalpostcomment.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/tunisia.jpgAsmaa Mahfouz: http://dailymaverick.co.za/photo/resize/2011-08-15-asmaa-mahfouz/618/408Wael Ghonim: http://assets.portfolio.com/views/blogs/daily-brief/wael-ghonim-google-cnn-2-9-11-large.jpgEgyptian Revolution: http://www.kerryguy.com/inspirational-journey/images/stories/egypt-revolution-2011.jpghttp://dreamlife.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/egypt.jpgLibya pics: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rCeaq_UXNFQ/TZB_dNomdjI/AAAAAAAACiA/_3u8UxooDwU/s400/b46cf_Libya-war-2011-us-gaddafi.jpghttp://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/libya0309/s_l01_RTR2JNW9.jpghttp://tihik.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/libya_rebel_fighters_02.jpghttp://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2011/08/23/150010-libya-fall-of-tripoli.jpghttp://www.screenok.com/images/wallpapers/libyan-revolution-flag-331194.jpegSpring Map:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Arab_Spring_map_reframed_updated_2.2.pngOccupy Wall Street: http://xaxor.com/images/Occupy-Wall-Street-signs/Occupy-Wall-Street-signs09.jpghttp://thyblackman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Occupy-Wall-Street.jpgLondon: http://magazine.motilo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/london-riots-tottenham-motilo.jpg