The protests that have spread through parts of the Arab world led to dramatic change in another country Tuesday, as Jordan's king dismissed his government.
King Abdullah II made the decision following protests in recent weeks in which several thousand people demanded economic and political reforms.
Experts on the region said Tuesday Abdullah's decision was aimed at warding off larger-scale demonstrations in the wake of the huge protests in Tunisia and Egypt. The Tunisia protests, which began the movement, toppled that country's government. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak has fired his Cabinet, but protesters in massive demonstrations continue to call for his ouster.
The protests -- which have also caught on to various extents in Algeria, Yemen, and Sudan -- have proved to be "a real watershed event for the Arab world," said Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. "It's really unprecedented."
There was a series of protests in Arab nations in the 1950s, but those were prompted by an ideology of Pan-Arabism in a post-colonial world, said Emile Hokayem, with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A 2005 uprising in Lebanon was about independence and ousting Syria. While it was successful, the revolution's message was not one that other nations associated with, he said.
"It's different this time. People are standing up for their economic rights, their dignity. It's very different," said Hokayem.
Ibrahim Sharqieh of the Brookings Institution said there's a whole new mind-set
King Abdullah II made the decision following protests in recent weeks in which several thousand people demanded economic and political reforms.
Experts on the region said Tuesday Abdullah's decision was aimed at warding off larger-scale demonstrations in the wake of the huge protests in Tunisia and Egypt. The Tunisia protests, which began the movement, toppled that country's government. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak has fired his Cabinet, but protesters in massive demonstrations continue to call for his ouster.
The protests -- which have also caught on to various extents in Algeria, Yemen, and Sudan -- have proved to be "a real watershed event for the Arab world," said Blake Hounshell, managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. "It's really unprecedented."
There was a series of protests in Arab nations in the 1950s, but those were prompted by an ideology of Pan-Arabism in a post-colonial world, said Emile Hokayem, with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A 2005 uprising in Lebanon was about independence and ousting Syria. While it was successful, the revolution's message was not one that other nations associated with, he said.
"It's different this time. People are standing up for their economic rights, their dignity. It's very different," said Hokayem.
Ibrahim Sharqieh of the Brookings Institution said there's a whole new mind-set
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