The aftermath of the Arab spring not only saw a difficult regime transition in Tunisia and Libya but contributed to the revival of old and new security challenges in the Maghreb and the Sahel. The secessionist conflict that broke out in 2012 in northern Mali, followed by a military coup in Bamako and the French intervention a year later, is paradigmatic of how the fallout effects of the Libyan civil war and the difficult political transitions in Tripoli and Tunis affected the internal stability of neighbouring countries.

Experiencing a fast economic growth for approximately the past thirty years, China has in the last decade felt strong enough to play a much more active role compared to the recent past. Amid a debate regarding whether China will or will not be the next superpower challenging the US global hegemony, the Middle East is considered as among the first regions the potential Sino-American rivalry will take place. However, despite the truth such scenarios entail, reality is arguably more complex, especially in the now changing socio-political landscape of the Middle East.

Hamid Dabashi has argued that the Arab Spring challenges the postcolonial identity and creates a new emancipatory geographical imagination. The rapidly changing political geography in Egypt is indicating that the Left is searching for its political identity in the post-Mubarak era. Even though the Islamist domination in the political scene is obvious, the Left and the workers’ struggle has been intensified, despite the quandary. The fluid identities of most of the nascent coalitions are struggling to secure a place in this new geographical imagination.

The Arab Spring swept countries which share many common denominators, one of which is the socioeconomic disparity. Inexorably, political turmoil causes economic havoc. The stability and prosperity of the economies that were affected by the Arab Spring are a major concern to all and sundry; namely to their people, to all the other countries in MENA that managed to sharply “escape” the Arab Spring and, not to mention, the international community.

The Arab Spring swept countries which share many common denominators, one of which is the socioeconomic disparity. Inexorably, political turmoil causes economic havoc. The stability and prosperity of the economies that were affected by the Arab Spring are a major concern to all and sundry; namely to their people, to all the other countries in ME NA that managed to sharply “escape” the Arab Spring and, not to mention, the international community.

The Libyan Arab Spring led to the inauguration of a new chapter in the country's history. What is most challenging in the foreseeable future is who is going to be the leading player of the transitional process or else who is going to set the hierarchy of needs in the Libyan state in order to prevent further confrontation and polarization. The rule of law and democratic principles cannot be instilled into Libyan people overnight. Tremendous effort is needed in order to fulfil “the responsibility to protect the civilians”.

Last year’s events have caused a domino effect in the region of the Middle East and the developments could not have left the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan unaffected. The impact of these events became apparent both on the domestic issues and on the relations of the Kingdom with other states and actors. To some extent the developments in Jordan resembled those in the rest of the Arab World. On the total, though, Jordan’s case is different.

Migration is as old as the his tory of humanity and migrants have been and will always be a permanent reality with a potential to trans form countries and regions around the world. E urope and the Middle E as t have always had population trans - fers between them through the passing of c enturies but during the las t years they have been trying to regulate these movements. T he “Arab Spring” added a new pressing fac tor on that proc ess. Henc e, decision-makers should work hard to formulate a pragmatic and fair migration s trategy that would give benefits to all the E uro-Mediterranean sides.

As the battle for Bani Walid continues unabated, major questions remain about what the next day of the L ibyan war will look like, not only in the Maghreb but also in a wider regional and international level. As the rebels are still sweeping the country for the last supporters of the regime and the Qadh?fi family, the Sahel is boiling, the Syrian regime staunchly refuses any concession to the protesters and in Yemen a new wave of manifestations has been met with more repression. At the other side of the Mediterranean, the E U has got the hands full into the debt crisis of its poorest members, while China and the US are coping with their own controversies and internal issues respectively.

The “Arab Spring” and the uprisings ac ross the region led to two “paradoxes” that few antic ipated at the outset. F irst, the ascent of the Saudi Kingdom as the Sunni regional hegemon and the second, the newrole of the USA as the mainstay of democ ratic change not against radical regimes, as it was the neo-conservative case, but at the expense of regional friendships and allegiances in E gypt, Tunisia and Yemen. In other words, the democ ratic wave has strengthened the regional position of the most undemoc ratic and pre-modern political and soc ial system in the Middle E ast and has enhanced the American soft power in a region where antiAmericanism was skyrocketing.