Year 2011 World Events Review
Tunis Spark that Ignited the Arab Spring When Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian fruit seller, set himself on fire toward the end of December 2010, he did so out of economic despair and outrage over rampant corruption in his native Sidi Bouzid. In 2011, the world saw protest movements that demanded an end to that inequality. Bouazizi became a symbol for millions of people around the world who found themselves similarly facing daily government oppression and misrule. "The people want the downfall of the regime" became a slogan that united people across Syria, Yemen, Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. Protests toppled leaders that previously had seemed untouchable -- Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Tunisia's Zine Abidine Ben Ali and Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh. Meanwhile, the brutal crimes of the governments of Syria and Bahrain captured headlines worldwide and rose to the top of the international agenda. In the United States, activists in New York's Zu