Reflection Post 9/19

What a tumultuous week to start this course!  I couldn’t be happier with having such a connection between current events and the material learned in class.  I found this to be greatly lacking in the academic endeavors of high school.  I’m proud to state that my research on Algeria, although not necessarily in the news this week, proved useful.  In a panel on the regimes of Egypt and Syria, featuring Prof. Joshua Stacher of Kent State University, a student in the audience drew parallels between Algeria and its surrounding states involved in the Arab Spring.  Algeria, a democratic state with a bicameral parliament, has evaded major protests, appearing relatively calm in the wake of movements in nearby Tunisia and Libya.  This was alarming at first, considering the accusations of fraudulent elections that the government received in 2009.  It is apparent that Bouteflika, the president, and his National Liberation Front party have been improving the conditions of its citizens.  Since the start of the Arab Spring, Bouteflika has lifted the “state of emergency” claim that he had been ruling under for his previous two terms, and has increased wages.  However, the government is still known to quell protests using violent means (freedomhouse.org).  The power of the central government in Algeria is truly the reason it has remained static in the last two years.  It should be mentioned though, that the movement is young, and more influence can be spread.  As Prof. Stacher put it in his lecture, there is more of a case for “when” than “if” in the spreading of the Arab Spring across MENA.