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A decade ago this week, a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after being persecuted by police. In this short books essay, I reflect on the legacy and lessons of the uprisings it triggered across the Arab world. THREAD
(1/4) https://www.ft.com/content/fa3df15c-af7e-41bb-baff-9516b4e4ae62
(1/4) https://www.ft.com/content/fa3df15c-af7e-41bb-baff-9516b4e4ae62
I visited Egypt, Libya and other countries in turmoil between 2011 and 2013. This 2012 piece from Syria tried to capture the suffering and sense of tragedy that set in there and elsewhere after the early euphoria of revolt against dictatorship. (2/4) https://www.ft.com/content/82227de6-0955-11e2-a5e3-00144feabdc0
(2/4) https://www.ft.com/content/82227de6-0955-11e2-a5e3-00144feabdc0
This moving obituary by my colleague . @hebamks of the Tunisian activist Lina Ben Mhenni captures the spirit of those times - and shows why they still provide inspiration, as well as warnings. (3/4) https://www.ft.com/content/1904de84-42b0-11ea-a43a-c4b328d9061c
(3/4) https://www.ft.com/content/1904de84-42b0-11ea-a43a-c4b328d9061c
Those events also offer wider insights into how authoritarian leaders and their enablers work. I write in my book The Fabulists about the indecency of those who, even after all these years, seek to obscure or excuse the Syrian regime's brutality. (4/4) https://oneworld-publications.com/the-fabulists.html
