Protests inSudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq bring to mind images of the Arab Spring that shook the MENA region in 2011. Thousands of demonstrators in different Sudanese, Algerian, Lebanese and Iraqi cities have taken to the streets calling for political change and chanting the famous 2011 slogan “the people want the fall of the regime.” As happened in many cases in 2011, sustained protests over several months led the armed forces to intervene to oust incumbent presidents in Sudan and Algeria, either smoothly, as was the case with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, or violently, as happened with Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir. The situation in Lebanon and Iraq is more complicated, as the two sectarian political regimes have no clear centre of authority. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri decided to resign in response to the demands of protesters.
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