Globalization: A Powerful Weapon of the United States

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Introduction On the 17th of December 2010 a young street vendor from Tunisia, frustrated, set himself on fire, and died a few weeks later as an infliction of this self-immolation. Mohamed Bouazizi became a symbol of freedom, and his later death was dubbed as part of a group of "heroic martyrs of a new Middle Eastern revolution."1 These young men and women, whose pictures and names became national icons, were from all over the Arab world. They were all after the same thing; an end to the suppressive evil that they have witnessed throughout most of their lives and to many their entire lives. A few weeks later, inspired and encouraged by the events in Tunisia and the successful ousting of the Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a similar uprising took place in Egypt. Hundreds of young men and women, collaborated through social media networks, took to the streets of Cairo in non-violent demonstrations. Frustrated from lack of basic human rights, political freedom, high unemployment, harsh living conditions and an endless stream of police brutality, they came out to say; “we have had enough and this time we mean it.” In the center of Cairo at its largest square Tahir Square, which ironically in Arabic means freedom, protestors from a variety of socioeconomic and religious backgrounds multiplied for 18 consecutive days. Their demands were clear; an end to Mubarak’s 30-year old tyrant regime. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured.2 On 11 February Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would be stepping down as president and handed power over to the Supreme Co... ... middle of paper ... ...elations.PDF file. Penceny, Mark (1999). Democracy at the Point of Bayonets. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 183. ISBN 0-271-01883-6. Muravchik, Joshua (1991). Exporting Democracy: Fulfilling America's Destiny. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute Press. pp. 91–118. ISBN 0-8447-3734-8. Max Boot (July 15, 2004). "In Modern Imperialism, U.S. Needs to Walk Softly". Council on Foreign Relations. Chalmers Johnson (February 19, 2007). "737 U.S. Military Bases = Global Empire". AlterNet. United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt (Oct 1, 2010). "Government – Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual 2000–2010" TreasuryDirect. Retrieved January 17, 2011. "UN Security Council Reform May Shadow Annan's Legacy". Voice Of America. 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.

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