Is The World Set To Witness A Second Arab Spring?

When the Arab Spring erupted across parts of Africa and the Middle East in December 2010, a succession of governments were toppled. Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was the first leader to leave office on 14 January 2011 and he was followed by Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh. More recently, Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned on 3 April 2019 while Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown on 11 April 2019.

Given the level of popular discontent in Sudan and Algeria and the recent government changes in both countries, could more leaders get toppled in the region? The BBC conducted a survey in a range of countries to find out if the world could be set to experience a second Arab Spring. When asked if they would support rapid political change, 49 percent of Moroccans said that they would. Discontent is also high in war-ravaged Yemen with 41 percent calling for change while in Egypt, 39 percent are hoping for swift political change.