Abstract

Analyses on the so-called “Arab Spring” mainly focus on its possible consequences. But which are its causes? In attempting to provide an answer to this question, the author evaluates the multifaceted relationship between authorities and citizens – especially the youngest ones – underlining the occurrence of specific phenomena (youth bulge, high educational levels, widespread ICTs, unemployment, pervasive corruption, human rights violations) in the countries involved. The conclusion which is reached is that the wave of protests might have been generated by the complete detachment existing between citizens and institutions, detachment which, paradoxically, might have been created and nourished by those in power themselves, through the “modernizing” reforms they have imposed in recent years