Was there a real Spring? Or was everything erased, fuelling an almost romantic and nostalgic idea that the upheaval was a simple and elusive moment of lost hope? But this conviction quickly gave way to a bitter backlash, in which most authoritarian rulers regained power leaving citizens with frozen promises of change. This extraordinary and emotional shock persuaded and galvanized people to take hold of power and to evict entrenched autocrats, with the goal of setting the stage for a real change in their histories.
A decade ago, the Arab Spring popular protests rippled over Middle Eastern regimes, toppling a number of long-standing leaders once considered impervious to change.
