What is the Arab Spring? How did it start? How might it end? What role did Wikileaks play? And where do events leave the oil-dependent west? As American and British jets shower bombs on Libya it is astonishing to think that it all began with a young man who ran a fruit stall. Angry at police brutality, 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi, who sold fruit and vegetables streetside in a provincial Tunisian town, set himself on fire in protest at police behaviour. His act of defiance, in the middle of December 2010, sparked a chain of rebellion in Tunisia, which drove the country’s dictator from power. That mood spread to Egypt, where an extraordinary standoff between protesters and the longtime autocrat Mubarak gripped the world. And then Libya. The UN declared a no-fly zone, paving the way for a US-led bombardment of Libya – and a global debate, in some quarters uproar, at the sight of another western intervention. Libya’s fate is unknown – as to a large extent is Egypt’s. Meanwhile the region remains in the balance. In Bahrain, in Yemen, in Syria and beyond, there have been burst of insurgency. Across the wider Middle East, opposition movements are emboldened. Told with the energy and drama of an unfolding story, together with the analysis, argument, insight and eloquence of the Guardian’s best writers and contributors, Arab Spring will make compelling reading for anyone who cares about democracy and the future of the new world order.
