The Arab world is host to some 300 million people in 22 member states of the Arab League. It is in this region that humanity first learned the basics of civilized association, witnessed the birth of the three major religions, and ignited the spark of the European renaissance. Notwithstanding the complexity of generalizing to such a vast and diverse region, there is a striking sense of unity and destiny among Arabs, and an ironic commonality of problems facing them nowadays. At present, no Arab country, rich or poor, is free from internal strife, regional conflicts, or the threat of terrorism. Most Arab regimes until very recently have been based on some form of authoritarian governance, with no real participation by or accountability to the people. All this started to change, in a profound way, in 2011, as a wave of popular uprisings swept through the Arab world, toppling very strong regimes, threatening others, and pushing the rest towards serious democratic reforms. As population health is influenced much by the system of governance and level of engagement of the public in solving their own problems, the Arab Spring is expected to have a huge impact on people's health in the Arab world.
