The reawakening of the Arab world

The Arab Spring uprisings comprise an integral part of a massive « second awakening » of the Global South. In his latest book, Samir Amin examines the complex interplay of nations regarding the Arab Spring and its continuing, turbulent seasons. Amin sees the United States, in an increasingly multi-polar world, as a victim of overreach, caught in its own web of attempts to contain the challenge of China, while confronting the staying power of nations such as Syria and Iran. The growing, deeply-felt need of the Arab people for independent, popular democracy is the cause of their awakening. This is what the United States fears most, since real self-government by independent nations would necessarily mean the end of U.S. empire, and the economic liberalism that has kept it in place. The way forward for the Arab world, Amin argues, is to take on, not just Western imperialism, but also capitalism itself.