Jen Jerndal
We are four months into the emblematic year 2012. Let’s look back to the build-up during 2011 and recall the following events and trends:
The Arab Spring revolutions spreading from Tunisia to Egypt, from Libya to Syria, and from Bahrain to Yemen;
The Spanish INDIGNADOS movement that spread to other countries in Europe and to the US.
Unprecedented riots and looting in London, Manchester and Birmingham and other places;
Luxury cars being burnt in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and other German cities;
The biggest protests ever in Israel, with nearly half a million people taking to the streets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa, demanding social justice;
Students and teachers in Chile claiming free higher education in masssive anti-government demonstrations were met with massive confrontations by riot police;
A major grass-root protest campaign in India against corruption;
During labour riots in China, police and fire vehicles were set on fire;
The “Occupy Wall Street” movement in New York and across the United States has been spreading over the Atlantic into Europe, Asia and Oceania, with cascading consequences.
Riots in Greece against the “austerity measures” imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the former Goldman Sachs executives turned “saviours” of the Euro. Read More
