Social Network Dynamics of the Arab Spring
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21710934-arabs-make-up-just-5-worlds-population-they-account-about-half
In 2011, democratic uprising arose independently and rapidly spread across the Arab world. The movement was born in Tunisia in December of 2010. However, the underlying social and political shifts that were underlying these uprisings were closely connected, and social networks both through physical and online interactions were the primary channels of information–the quick spreading of which contributed to such a rapid unfolding of events.
The linked article, published on November 29th, 2016 by the Economist, cites that although the Arab world only makes up 5% of the world’s population, in 2014 it accounted for 45% of the world’s terrorism, 68% of its battle-related deaths, 47% of its internally displaced and 58% of its refugees. These horrifying statistics, coupled with the increasing disenfranchisement of Arab youth in these nations (unemployment, poverty, and marginalization are on the rise) indicates that these nations are approaching a tipping point.
Network dynamics come into play through the social connectedness of the youth in these nations. Since the youth are more likely to both have more liberal ideals and to be active on the internet, they are a crucial factor in determining what the tipping point will be should another series of uprisings occur. A close analysis of the social connections Arab youth have online, whether they are positive or negative, whether they are strong or weak ties, their correlations to individuals’ personal social and political opinion, and all of the previous information correlated to the political environment at the time of these observations (at the time leading up to and during the Arab Spring conflicts, compared to today) would be extremely insightful.