So, while the Arab Spring has been a genuine popular uprising against decades of corrupt and oppressive authoritarian regimes, its rapid spread, which caught almost everyone by surprise, was due in part to the influence of Al Jazeera, which became the voice of the voiceless throughout the Middle East. As for Qatar itself, Al Thani provided various forms of support to all of the Arab revolutions, except in Bahrain, where the Saudis and, more pointedly, the Americans, drew a very sharp red line.