ABSTRACT
In January 2011, audiences across the globe were glued to their television screens. The world was closely following the uprisings that erupted in almost every state of the Arab Middle East following the death of a Tunisian street vendor by the name of Mohamed Bouazizi, who had set himself on fire to protest the humiliating treatment he received from the local police and the subsequent dismissal of his complaints by the municipal authorities. News media were teeming with images of peaceful protesters flocking to major squares in their cities and towns, demanding that governments and government institutions be accountable to their citizens. They chanted, “The people want the fall of the regime!” and defied police and security forces, as well as army detachments. The protests sometimes ended in violent clashes; other times they ended peacefully. The faces of the protesters were young and old, male and female, urban and provincial, and multidenominational. In other words, the images of the popular uprisings were very different from previous newscasts of a Middle East populated with insurgents and terrorists. The uprisings, both peaceful and violent, were organized and executed by broad coalitions of students, labor unions, political parties, religious movements, and civic institutions, and facilitated by personal networks as well as social media.
