Since the late 1970s, many professors and Middle East experts have claimed that Pan Arabism no longer exists Fouad Ajami suggests that Pan Arabism collapsed because Gamel Nasser, the clear leader of the movement, lost momentum after the Arab defeat in the Six Day War. Moreover, other Arab groups, most notably the Palestinians, lost faith in the Pan-Arab movement and tried to branch out on their own. More recently, though, after the events of the Arab Spring of 2011, many scholars and journalists argue that Pan Arabism is coming back in different ways. Susan De Muth suggests that the Pan Arabism of the Arab Spring is different than it was thirty years ago. She suggests that the Pan Arabism of Gamel Nasser’s era was tied to the idea of keeping the Arab World free of foreign and western influence, while today’s Pan Arabism is mostly led by young people who are dedicated to reforming or making governments in Arab countries less oppressive or controlling. This new form of Pan Arabism has been strengthened by technology, like social media. According to De Muth, protesters from different countries have been able to strengthen their cause and even coordinate protests with movements in other Arab countries using social media. Other scholars are not as optimistic as De Muth; Marc Lynch suggests that the protests of the Arab Spring were long overdue, and that the political movements in the Arab Middle East have been slowly building strength for the last thirty years.