Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP
Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP
Comment /  Letters

Letters | From China and Russia to Turkey, time’s up for democracy as ‘people’s autocracy’ takes root

  • The aftermath of the Arab spring and the emergence of strongman leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan bear testimony to the failure of the collective global democratic leadership

Topic |   War and conflict
Letters
Letters

Updated: 6:30am, 27 Dec, 2020

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Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP
Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on January 29, 2011. In 2010, an uprising in Tunisia opened the way for a wave of popular revolts against authoritarian rulers across the Middle East known as the Arab spring. For a brief window as leaders fell, it seemed the move towards greater democracy was irreversible. Instead, the region saw its most destructive decade of the modern era. Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq have been torn apart by wars, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Photo: AP
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