The Fires of Spring by Shelly Culbertson

By the time he died, he had become a national figure and the spark on a rebellion that overthrew the 23-year dictatorship of then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.Ģ months later Bouazizi’s martyrdom had set off what was christened, perhaps by a former HERE AND THERE guest Marc Lynch, “the Arab Spring.” He was protesting extortion by local police and government officials demanding money to let him set up his stall. Just before noon on December 17, 2010, a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi from the boondock town of Sidi Bouzid set himself on fire.

The Fires of Spring blends reportage, travel memoir, and analysis in this complex and multifaceted portrait.RAND Corporation analyst Shelly Culbertson’s book The Fires of Spring examined what’s happened in the region since the “Arab Spring.” We talk about the backlash against democracy and how it has affected Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and Tunisia. She delves into what Arab Spring optimism was about, and at the same time sheds light on the pain and dysfunction that continues to plague parts of the region. Culbertson navigates the nuances of street life and peers into ministries, mosques, and women's worlds.

A narrative of author Shelly Culbertson's journey through six countries of the Middle East, The Fires of Spring tells the story by weaving together a sense of place, insight about issues of our time, interviews with leaders, history, and personal stories. The Fires of Spring is the first book to bring the post-Arab Spring world to light in a holistic context. The aftermath of that one personal protest grew to become the Middle East movement known as the Arab Spring-a wave of disparate events that included protests, revolutions, hopeful reform movements, and bloody civil wars.

The 'Arab Spring' all started when a young Tunisian fruit seller set himself on fire in protest of a government official confiscating his apples and slapping his face. Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia Print The Fires of Spring - A Post-Arab-Spring Journey Through the Turbulent New Middle East

The Fires of Spring by Shelly Culbertson