Explanation:
Ten years ago, to the day, the Tunisian people revolted against their president. They denounced his regime, his policies, and his corrupt practices and called for jobs, freedom, and dignity. This was the cry of millions of young people frustrated with the arrogance of cronyism, the widening gulf of economic opportunity, and the stifling of unauthorized speech in any form.
Peaceful protests had never before led to a regime change in the region, and soon the tide overwhelmed North Africa and the Middle East. Those early waves of hope—which some labeled the “Arab Spring”—led to the fall of governments in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. But as we now know, the wave crashed into a maelstrom of disillusionment, political opportunism, authoritarianism, violence, and civil war.
A decade after those dramatic events, what happened to dignity and freedom? What happened to economic opportunities? Are the youth of the MENA region better off today than they were a decade ago?
Despite increased aspirations, sometimes more open political systems, and a freer right to dissenting speech—and despite substantial support from the international community—deep changes to economic governance and outcomes failed to materialize in the last decade. With very few exceptions, MENA countries have run up unsustainable public debt and increased their dependence on capital inflows. While some in the region, mainly in the Gulf, have shown improvements in the ease of doing business, overall competitiveness of MENA countries falls short of the region’s potential.
According to a new opinion poll by The Guardian and YouGov, a majority of those surveyed in Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, and Egypt do not regret the protests; yet, more than half of respondents in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Sudan say their lives are worse than before the uprising. Even in Tunisia—arguably the closest country to a democratic success story—50% say their lives are worse today, while only a little more than a quarter of respondents say their lives are better. And there is diminishing hope: a majority of those surveyed in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Tunisia believe their children will face worse futures than before the protests.
That future is far from inevitable. But without a sweeping change in trajectory, there will likely be another lost decade in the MENA region.
