in VOA Special English.Experts say political unrestin the Arab Worldand protests in Europehave more in commonthan it may seem.(SOUND)The "Arab Spring"pro-democracy movementbegan in Tunisia.Protests forced PresidentZine El Abidine Ben Alito resign in January.(SOUND)A short time later,protests in Egypt forced outPresident Hosni Mubarak,another longtime Arab leader.Mary Kaldor was partof the opposition movementin Hungary during the Cold War.She is now a professorof global governanceat the London School of Economics.MARY KALDOR: "People assumedthat somehow the Middle Eastwas different and that was basedon assumptions that somehowIslam is different-- 'It's not like us.'And that was an assumptionthat underpinned the waron terror, too.And I think what's so wonderfulabout the Arab Spring is thatit's disproving that assumption.It's showing that Arabs are justas democratic as everyone else."As the Arab Spring grew,protests also beganin parts of Europe.(SOUND)In Athens, thousands protestedcuts in government spendingand other budget reforms.Protesters occupied Syntagma Squareoutside Greece's Parliament.Professor Kaldor saysthe anger was similarto what the Arab demonstrators felt.MARY KALDOR: "It's all about,I think, a failure of representation,a feeling that the political classis one class, 'We can't influence them,it's outrageous that they'resuddenly saying that we have to payfor what the banks did.'And I think that there's a similarfeeling of outrage in the Arab world.So I think there are very manysimilarities between what's happeningin Europe and what's happeningin the Arab world."In Spain, protesters occupiedthe Puerta del Sol squarein central Madrid,copying the earlier protestsin Cairo's Tahrir Square.In London, British protestersdemonstrated earlier this yearagainst their government'scost-cutting measures.Owen Tudor is international secretaryfor the Trades Union Congress in Britain.OWEN TUDOR: "I think there areclear differences for what's going onin different countries.We're talking about democraciesin Europe, dictatorships acrossmuch of North Africa.But many of the causesof what's happenedhave been very similar.It's about the economic crisis."Israel recently had someof its largest demonstrations ever.Israelis have criticizedhousing costs, wages, taxesand rising prices for food and fuel.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuis promising economic reformsbut has failedto satisfy social activists.Some observers see the Arab Springcoming to a halt in Libya and Syria.But Professor Kaldor saysthe protests have alreadychanged the Arab world.MARY KALDOR: "Nineteen eighty-ninebrought an end to the Cold War.I think what twenty-eleven didwas to sideline the war on terror.It marginalized al-Qaida.Osama bin Laden may have beenphysically killed in Pakistan,but he's been politically killedby the demonstrationsin the Middle East."The protests in the Arab worldmight never have amounted to muchwithout the use of social mediato help organize protests.(SOUND)The Pearl Roundabout traffic circlein Manama became Bahrain'sown version of Tahrir Square.Protesters, mostly Shi'ite Muslims,set up camp and demanded reforms.Bahrain's minority Sunni government,with military helpfrom neighboring nations,violently suppressed the uprising.Today, many Bahrainis saythey are afraid to use social media.Abdulnabi Alekry is chairmanof the Bahrain Transparency Society.He says the government's useof social media to help identifyopponents has pushed the country'sSunnis and Shi'ites farther apart.ABDULNABI ALEKRY: "It is causinga lot of damage to the national unityand it is causing even suspicionbetween people who work togetheror live together or arein the same society or club.It is a source of concern."Al-Jazeera television recentlyshowed how a Facebook pagehelped lead officialsto a twenty-year-old Shi'ite woman.Visitors to the page were askedto identify her "and letthe government take care of the rest."She was reportedlyarrested and tortured.Bahrain is not the only country saidto be using social mediato find government opponents.Syrian security forces havealso been accused of using sites like Facebook and Twitterto identify activists.And that's IN THE NEWSin VOA Special English.