The U.S Role in Arab Spring

The uprisings were dubbed as “Arab Spring”. Many nations in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), that neighbor the conflict spots, have been greatly affected by the uprisings. Neighboring countries have experienced an influx of refugees, and a possibility of violence spilling over their borders.

Nations that are far from the proximity of the conflicts, including the United States, have also seen an opportunity to have the dictatorial regimes within some nations replaced with democratic ones. The United States' foreign policy, concerning the uprisings in the MENA region, is to make sure that rebellions essentially lead to removal of the dictators and their governing offices, and replaced with friendlier, more democratic regimes. In September 2011, United States Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, has created The Office of The Special Coordinator For Middle East Transitions (MET).The purpose of the office is coordinate U. S.

Government assistance to rising democracies arising from these revolts. The office employs and coordinates tools and other agencies such as USAID, INL, MEPI, DRL and others. Special Coordinator of the MET office William B. Taylor Jr. , implements and designs different strategies in order to support transitions to democracies in the region. The Coordinator focuses on mobilizing and coordinating U.

S. efforts to: Support free, fair and competitive elections;Assist the Egyptian, Tunisian, and Libyan people’s creation of enduring democratic institutions; Enable the current transitional authorities and future elected governments to deliver services and sufficiently meet citizen expectations, including through support for civil society and the private sector; Identify ways to support key sectors of the Tunisian, Egyptian, and Libyan economies; Increase outreach to emergent political, economic and social forces in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. state. gov) Since the January 2011 revolution in Tunisia, the U. S.

has committed more than $350 million in aid to support Tunisia’s transition, focusing heavily on technical and financial assistance to Tunisia’s economy and private sector, support for peace and stability in the country and support for its civil society and democratic practices. The aid was distributed throughout various sectors and programs such as:Tunisia Workforce Development Scholarship Fund – In 2013, the United States will launch a new scholarship fund forhundreds of Tunisian students to study at American universities and community colleges. Youth and Women-Focused Entrepreneurship Programs – The United States provides assistance to more than 5,000 Tunisian youth and 1,500 women entrepreneurs. Tunisia was selected for an MCC Threshold Program in September 2011. Created by the U.

S.Congress in January 2004, MCC take an a unique approach on how best to deliver U. S. foreign assistance by focusing on good policies, country ownership, and results. Critical Budget Support – The United States provided $100 million to pay directly debt that Tunisia owed the World Bank and African Development Bank, allowing the Government of Tunisia to instead use an equal amount for its priority programs, and to accelerate economic growth and job creation. (state.

gov)On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the Libyan civil war, and military operations began, with US and British naval forces firing over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the French Air Force, British Royal Air Force, and Canadian Royal Canadian Air Force undertaking sorties across Libya and a naval blockade by Coalition forces. Fighting in Libya ended in late October following the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the dictator of Lybia at the time.The United States has a strategic interest in Libya, and is supporting Libya’s democratic transition in cooperation with the UN and other international partners. Since February 2011, the United States has provided $170 million in assistance: in support of the anti-Gaddafi forces by providing them with military intelligence, logistics and non-lethal military equipment; and investing into humanitarian and security challenges in the immediate aftermath of the end of the conflict. The United States has focused on supporting improvements within government institutions, developing civil society, and facilitating free and fair elections.The projects are done in coordination with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

After the ousting of the Egyptian president and dictator, Hosni Mubarak, the United States has made it a priority to have a successful transition to democracy in Egypt. The United States is pursuing several key economic initiatives to promote the broad-based prosperity in Egypt, that will help a democratic transition succeed, the components of which are being developed in consultation with the Egyptian government and the United States Congress. These initiatives will address Egypt’s imminent balance of payment crisis, help to stabilize its economy, advance investment and trade with the United States and support small and medium enterprise development in Egypt. ” (state. gov) The latest, and still ongoing, popular uprising in the MENA region, happened in Syria.

The conflict began in March 2011, with popular demonstrations against the ruling regime. In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising, and soldiers were ordered to fire on demonstrators across the country.In response, the protests eventually evolved into an armed rebellion. The Arab League, United States, European Union, and other countries condemned the use of violence against the protesters.

The Arab League suspended Syria's membership because of the government's response to the crisis. In 2012, full-scaled urban battles began in Damascus and other major cities. “On 15 July 2012, the International Committee of the Red Cross assessed the Syrian conflict as a "non-international armed conflict" (the ICRC's legal term for civil war), thus applying nternational humanitarian law under the Geneva Conventions to Syria. ” (reuters.

com) By May 15, 2014, the U. N. Released an estimate that the death toll caused by the conflict is 80,000, and about 4 million Syrians have been displaced within the country. As many as 1. 5 million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries. Turkey and Jordan are the recipients of most of Syrian refugees.

The United States is providing nearly $510 million in humanitarian assistance to help those affected by the Syrian conflict. The United States is providing food aid, medical supplies, emergency and basic health care, shelter materials, clean water, hygiene education and supplies, and other relief supplies—including blankets and heaters—to help those affected by the crisis in Syria. ” (state. gov) Large portion of money from the aid will go to countries who have accepted the Syrian refugees, in order to help them cope with such large numbers of refugees.

Jordan in particular will receive a substantial U. S. money grant due to the fact that Syrian refugee numbers are now totaling to one third of total population of Jordan.The United States has provided $250 million in transition support to the “opposition forces” such as Syrian Coalition and the opposition’s Supreme Military Council.

“This assistance will help local opposition councils and civil society groups to provide essential services to their communities and extend the rule of law and enhance stability inside the areas liberated from the Syrian Government forces. ” (state. gov) The conflict in Syria has received significant international attention.The Arab League, European Union, the United Nations, and many Western governments condemned the Syrian government's violent response to the protests, and many expressed support for the protesters' right to exercise free speech. On 23 February 2012, Kofi Annan was appointed as the joint U.

N. -Arab League special envoy to Syria in an attempt to end the increasingly violent uprising. The Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria, launched in February 2012, is considered the most serious international attempt to resolve the Syrian civil war in the Middle East diplomatically.The peace plan enforced a cease-fire to take place across Syria.

Following the Houla massacre and the consequent Free Syrian Army (FSA) ultimatum to the Syrian government, the cease-fire practically collapsed towards the end of May 2012, as the FSA began nation-wide offensives against the government troops. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad responded by vowing to crush the anti-regime uprising. In light of prolonged, unsuccessful attempts to restrain both sides from using violence , Kofi Annan resigned.On 17 August 2012, Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed the new UN-Arab League peace envoy for Syria. The U.

N. 's role, in countries affected by “Arab Spring”, according to the chief of UN DPA, is reflected in varied UN’s response, according to the unique circumstances in each country. In Tunisia, for example, the UN was deeply involved in the preparations of the October elections. The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) worked with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to deploy electoral experts to Tunis, and provide first-hand assistance to the national election authorities.

In Lybia, the Secretary-General appointed a high-ranking diplomat, former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel-Elah Al-Khatib, to lead the effort of mediating peace talks between Gaddafi and the opposition. At the same time, the Secretary-General tasked DPA with planning for the post-conflict situation in Libya. In Syria, U. N. mainly kept in contact with the Arab Nations League, in order to find a solution to stop the current bloodshed in Syria.

The U. N.Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is closely following the reports of crimes perpetrated by either side of the conflict in Syria. The Arab League's role in Lybian and Syrian conflicts, was only symbolic, meant to persuade all the Arab nations to support the people whenever government forces used lethal force against the protesters.

Lybia's and Syria's memberships in the League were suspended, and transferred to the representatives of the new opposition governments in those nations.NATO played a significant role in ousting of Muamar Gaddafi, during. Under the pretense of a UN backed-No-Fly zone over Lybia, NATO forces were able to swiftly depose of Gaddafi forces that were fighting the less capable armed resistance. In Syria NATO was unable to push a proposition similar to the No-Fly zone in Lybia, mainly due to a strong opposition from China and Russia. Although NATO's anti-air defense batteries have been deployed on Turkey's border with Syria.

A move, claimed by Russia, to possibly escalate the conflict even further.The United States Government has vested a great amount of resources into forcing favorable outcome in some of the nations affected by the Arab Spring. The official position of the United States concerning the Arab Spring, is to prevent humanitarian crises, human right abuses and to promote transition from dictatorial regimes to democratic ones. On the other hand, neither the Department of the State nor the major news agencies, have mentioned any concerns over protests against dictatorial regimes in nations friendly to the U.

S. which also maintain permanent, US navy, military bases or cooperate in other spheres with the U. S.Some of the more violent conflicts are also believed to have been fueled by the outside forces, such as Western nations in collusion with other Arab states, and use the Arab Spring as a launching pad to overthrow an undesirable government. During the Lybian conflict, all nations were barred from transferring lethal weapons to Lybia, but France has admitted to have been secretly shipping weapons to rebels through proxy nations. While the U.

S. ad provided military and technical training to Lybian rebels. The money spent on the supposed prevention of humanitarian crises, could've been spent domestically: on social and economic needs, funds for which are being currently cut. One can draw a conclusion that somehow, the United States Goverment believes, that lives of citizens in other countries, that have nothing to do with the United States, are more important than the lives of those living the U.

S. and having to deal with problems due to economic crisis. In addition, if taking into account U. S. past involvements in transitioning democracy in countries such as Iraq,Afghanistan and Lybia.

It is not hard to draw a conclusion that even when a new, more democratic government is established after the deposition of the dictator, the sectarian or factional violence always resurfaces to keep the country unstable. In the case of Syria, U. S. may face a proxy war, as the conflict is starting to involve other international players such as Turkey, Iran, Israel and Russia. Without a strong economy at home, the United States is taking a big risk in trying to.