4 Coming Out and Coming Together By 2010, the dictatorships ruling the MENA region seemed more self-assured than ever. President Assad retained an iron grip on Syria, President Saleh of Yemen was preparing to alter the constitution to stay in power for life, and Colonel Gaddafi in Libya was now a partner, rather than an enemy, in the global war on terror. But just when the power of these regimes seemed so secure, the despair of a single person ignited a volcano that had been boiling under the surface for decades. In the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, a young man named Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire following humiliating abuse by municipal officials in December. His fellow Tunisians came out within hours to protest on his behalf. After the state-sanctioned murder of protesters produced a predictable backlash (Hess and Martin 2006), mounting demonstrations and the demurring of the military successfully pressured President Ben Ali and his family to flee the country on January 14, 2011. Egyptians then took up the mantle, confronting President Hosni Mubarak’s police state head-on. Given Egypt’s regional and symbolic importance, activists across the region knew that whatever happened next would signify whether the Arab Spring was going to become a game changer or get passed off as a fluke. After protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir Square to Alexandria and Port Said endured a series of state-sanctioned attacks and patronizing speeches, the Egyptian people pushed back, paralyzing the country with sit-ins, strikes, and riots. After the military decided to take control on February 11, 2011, Mubarak stepped aside, at least for the time being (Holmes 2019; Ketchley 2017; Said 2020). The impossible was really happening, and populations around the world cheered in celebration. As discussed in the book’s Introduction, the Arab Spring inspired protests across the region and the world over. Among the six countries1 hosting 1 According to popular demands for the fall of regimes, these countries were Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, and Syria. 93 https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009272148 Published online by Cambridge University Press