Revolution is a funny thing

Around five years ago, what's come to be known as the Arab Spring kicked off in Tunisia. A man, I forget his name now, set himself on fire in protest of the government. After a few weeks this spread to Egypt, then Libya, Syria and Bahrain. This was one of my earliest moments of being politically aware - that a sea change was happening.

I had been writing a book a few years ago about the situation. I intended to finish it by the turn of the year, but I was young and more naive then than I am now. The book was entitled 'The Arab Revolution' and I had set everything in place. It was to be an account of the revolution in various countries, and would include the story of each uprising and their connections. I started with Tunisia, and finished that. Then I continued with the second chapter about Egypt. I was fully expecting the story in Arabia to end in a straightforward manner - to give me an ending - the leaders being deposed, and new ones installed. But no. The Libyan civil war happened. I was hoping for it to simply come to an end, so I could have my story. At some point I gave up waiting, knowing that what I'd have to write was simply building and building with every passing day. I even dedicated a chapter to the Siege of Misratah. Of course, I also intended to write about Syria - 'once the civil war was finished'.

The younger version of myself could never have predicted the absolute melee it would become. I had never learned of a situation as complex and tangled as the Syrian civil war as it is today. Towards the end of 2015, we saw a vote in the commons on whether to launch air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria. Someone made an excellent point. Some two years ago, a measure to launch air strikes on the Syrian government had been defeated. The governement who are effectively an enemy to ISIS. The man said that it was gesture politics, and that he prefers decisive action, not a gesture. This 'gesture' is in reference to the vote being called in the wake of the Paris attacks.

That moment it dawned on me that revolution is only sometimes something decisive and groundbreaking. Sometimes it truly does change and cause an establishment of progress. But in truth, most are just gestures. As we saw in Egypt - the unrest didn't just end after the removal of Mubarak. No, the man who was put in his place - Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to death. In truth the revolution there, as in so many other places was just a gesture. A gesture of disapproval towards the government. Sometimes, that's solved in an election - but when discontent spreads so much and makes the population so fervent, it overwhelms the government.