中东新一轮抗议潮及其影响

Abstract:In 2019，protests and demonstrations broke out in many countries in West Asia and North Africa to express dissatisfaction with the economic downturn，high unemployment rate，people’s poor livelihood and political corruption. Demonstrations in many countries led to the resignation of leaders and government reorganization，but related measures did not effectively alleviate public dissatisfaction. Protests still occur in many countries and continue to this day. This wave of protests and demonstrations is the first time of pan-regional social unrest reappearing in West Asia and North Africa after the “Arab Spring” in 2011，and exacerbated political fragmentation in the Middle East. Thus，some experts named it “the Second Arab Spring.” However，the political demands of this wave of protests are slightly different from the “Arab Spring” ten years ago. The intervention of foreign countries has obvious characteristics to serve the needs of the US-Iran game. Especially，the spillover effect of this round of demonstrations has been significantly reduced. The social turmoil in the relevant countries has impacted the balance of power among the regional countries，but it has not changed the overall geopolitical pattern in the Middle East. On the contrary，it has accelerated the pace of existing geopolitical changes. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and plunging energy prices in 2020 have made the Middle East countries face a more severe governance crisis. This wave of protests has not been completely over，and its impact may continue.

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