Are all politics Local?

The Middle East has been going through a turbulent time since the beginning of the Arab Spring. Revolutions have overthrown governments and have rallied the younger generations of citizens of these countries. The protesters have multiple grievances against the old political system and they seek reforms. However, some protests have been put down by the governments and some countries haven't had anything that resembles a revolution like Egypt or Tunisia. My question to answer is are all politics local? The countries that make up the Middle East vary greatly from one another and although dictatorships and monarchies are the norm, a history of foreign involvement in the Middle East has structured the setting and environment that many of these countries have. I do believe that politics are both local and international and have a structure that resembles a chain of command. Local politics can grow to national politics and effect international politics as did the Arab Spring. However it is crucial to understand each individual country's past in order to understand the protests.  The issues of Yemen are not the same issues of Tunisia. Both countries had revolutions but the local environments where the revolutions where very different.

The Tunisian revolution started when Mohamed Bouazizi  light himself on fire out of frustration with the government. This happened in the back country of Tunisia, not in the capital. Using social media, cell phones, and video recordings citizens in the interior region were able to express there anger with the government to other parts of the small country. Tunisia's revolution spread to all the local levels before reaching the capital of Tunis where it started the Arab Spring. It its important to note that the Tunisian revolution was most non-violent and the military was viewed as protecting the people.

Yemen on the other hand started started on a local level but the protests against the government were defined by previous inter-tribal conflict in the region. Yemen is a totally different example from Tunisia because it faces insurgencies from Zeydi Shi'ites in the North, Seperatists, in the South, and a presence of Al-Qaeda all around the country. The state didn't have full control over Yemen when the revolution began. The environment of the local level previous to the revolution determined the course the revolution would take. Like Tunisia, Yemeni protesters wanted to oust President Saleh but they had to deal with different problems specific to Yemen along the way. Now that the revolution is over it is the local politics that are still shaping the country. 

General grievances with governments in the Middle East such as corruption and oppression went beyond local politics. However the actions of protesters at the local level were the reason the Arab Spring began.