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V i d e o
T r a n s c r i p t s
Shifts of Power in the Middle East
At the end of 2010, a protest began in Tunisia that
swept throughout North Africa and the Middle
East.
In nation after nation, people rose up in protests
against autocratic regimes and in favor of freedom. In some countries, such as Egypt and Libya,
governments were overthrown. Hundreds of
thousands of people protested in Syria and Bahrain. Strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies
broke out, as a revolutionary fervor swept the region. This period of sustained protest was known
as the Arab Spring.
How did a local protest in Tunisia lead to revolutions in other nations?
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, Inc.
Shifts of Power in the Middle East 1
V i d e o
T r a n s c r i p t s
One answer is social media.
Once dismissed as mere entertainment, social media sites emerged as a powerful new platform for
the sharing of ideas, which in turn transformed
into real-life action on the ground.
Sites such as Twitter and Facebook became effective tools for organizing protests and revolutions
as they carried messages about freedom and democracy across North Africa and the Middle East.
What might have happened if these technologies
had been available earlier?
What might have happened in the Middle East
if social media had been available in the volatile
period from 1947 to 1995?
© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, Inc.
Shifts of Power in the Middle East 2