The spring of 2011 produced a wave of demonstrations and revolution in the Arab world. Beginning in December, 2010 revolutions swept through Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen. Protests occurred on a large scale in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco and Oman. The civil resistance and social networks were typical of all these eruptions. This Reference Shelf discusses the history of these revolutions, America's role in them, their causes, impact on the world at large and their implications for the future.

Part 1.Whither the Arab spring? -- Government in the Arab world : monarchy, pan-Arab socialism, and Islamism / Paul McCaffrey -- The long revolt / Rami G. Khouri -- The Arab autumn / Stephen L. Carter -- Neoconservatives and the Arab spring / Joshua Muravchik -- World citizen : don't call it the "Arab spring" just yet / Frida Ghitis -- The dark side of the Arab spring / Jonathan Aitken -- Arab spring transforms North Africa's media landscape / Peter Feuilherade -- Arab spring and the Mukhabarat moment / Ed Blanche -- Part 2. The awakening of revolution in Tunisia -- Why Tunisia? / Paul McCaffrey -- That other Tunisia / Graham Usher -- From people to citizens in Tunisia / Nadia Marzouki -- What future for Tunisia's economy? / The Middle East -- Assessing Tunisia's elections / Dale Sprusansky -- Part 3. Egypt : Tahrir Square and after -- Egyptian politics : Nasserism and the Muslim brotherhood / Paul McCaffrey -- Egypt's Islamists : a cautionary tale / Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby -- Bloody democracy / Mike Giglio -- Revolution returns to Tahrir Square / Bel Trew -- With eye on political power, Egypt's Muslim brotherhood treads carefully after election win / Hamza Hendawi -- Part 4. Libya : Qaddafi's downfall -- The strange odyssey of Muammar Qaddafi / Paul McCaffrey -- "Qaddafi gave us no choice" / Anjali Kamat -- Libya : where will the chips fall? / Adel Darwish -- My walk through the valley of death / Janine di Giovanni -- Black and white in Libya / Asne Seierstad -- False ending / Sophie McBain -- Libyan "crossfire" / Charles Krauthammer -- Part 5. Syria : twilight of the Assad regime? -- Deep divisions : Syrian society and politics / Paul McCaffrey -- Syrian stalemate? / The Middle East -- Syria's Assad on the ropes? / Patrick Seale -- Assad's hope of survival / Ed Blanche -- Out of the shadow of fear / Asne Seierstad -- Inside the city of fear / James Harkin -- Part 6. Elsewhere on the Arabian peninsula : Bahrain and Yemen -- A country divided : Yemen's plight / Paul McCaffrey -- Chill winds follow dawn of the Arab spring / Brian Dooley, Nick Redmayne, and a special correspondent in Damascus -- Bahrain commission issues brutal critique of Arab spring crackdown / Elizabeth Dickinson -- Divided they stand / Haley Sweetland Edwards -- Yemeni president hands over power, but little changes / Sudarsan Raghavan -- Clampdown in Bahrain / Scheherezade Faramarzi -- Part 7. The political economy of revolution : The economics of the Arab world / Paul McCaffrey -- The economics of the Arab spring / Adeel Malik -- Restructuring U.S. foreign assistance in the wake of the Arab spring / Mathew O'Sullivan -- Working-class revolutions? / Joel Beinin -- Punishing doctors in Bahrain / Ala'a Shehabi -- Yemenis hopeless about economy as revolt continues / Richard Burkholder -- The island at the center of the world : the silencing of Bahrain's crisis / Derek Henry Flood.