Revolutionary waves are usually triggered by a successful example of one country, which is then emulated by other states with similar social and cultural conditions and problems, for example the 1989 revolutions against the disintegrating Soviet Union. One such wave of civil unrest recently washed over the North Africa and Middle East. Major common factors in the affected countries that lead to the protests were government corruption, dictatorship, poverty, human rights violations and high unemployment. Learn more about the protests and revolutions in the Arab world, their similarities and differences in this book.