Arab revolts and the prudence of the historian deals from the point of view of historiography with four main topics concerning the so-called Arab spring of the last two years: the causes of the revolts (arguing that a wide consensus has been reached by the historians); the names of the revolts (arguing that every appellation reveals a particular interpretation); the role of mass media and social networks in the revolts (arguing that such a role must not be overemphasized); the relation between Islam and the revolts (arguing that religion had and currently has a particular importance especially in forwarding new models of political thought). The present ongoing of the events hinders the attainment of definitive conclusions however.
Keywords: Rivolte arabe, storiografia, dignità, mass media, Islam, politica