The Arab Spring: A History from Beginning to End

The Arab Spring began unexpectedly on December 17, 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26-year-old fruit seller in the city of Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia, committed suicide in a horrifying and public way. He doused himself in flammable liquid and then set himself on fire. Bouazizi had been driven to this act of despair, it was said, by constant harassment from local representatives of the regime of President Ben Ali, who had been the autocratic ruler of Tunisia for more than twenty years. This tragic event led directly to a spontaneous revolution within Tunisia, and less than one month after Bouazizi's death, President Ben Ali was removed from power.

The protests that began in Tunisia proved contagious. By early 2011, the wave of insurrection had spread across the Middle East and North Africa. In Egypt, millions filled Tahrir Square and forced President Mubarak from power. In Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq, protests escalated into violent and bloody civil wars that would last for years. Large-scale demonstrations erupted in virtually every nation in the region.

How did the death of one ordinary man in Tunisia lead to fundamental change in so many nations? How were the uprisings able to spread, first in Tunisia, and then across the region? What lasting change did these protests and insurrections bring? This is the complex and often tragic story of the Arab Spring.

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Lydbog: 1. september 2026