5 East Asia and the Pacific The main episodes of protest in the region have consistently put forward calls for more democratic participation; examples include Myanmar and the Philippines. Price increases due to inflationary pressure also led to demonstrations(e.g., Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines). Protests against pandemic measures were found in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and most notably in China. While these demonstrations were large for China, they are not outliers: for instance, China saw multiple land grab protests over the past 20 years, prompting the government to consider compensation for land seizures. Europe and Central Asia After declining for a few years, protests for economic justice rose sharply in Europe and Central Asia in 2022, largely because of an explosion of anger over the rising cost-of-living(e.g., Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom). There were also protests for women’s rights, both reproductive rights and against violence directed at women and girls(e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Poland). Protests against Covid restrictions were also prevalent in 2021-2022(e.g., Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania). Right-wing protests attacking basic freedoms were also found in many countries(e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom). Latin America and the Caribbean Protests increased dramatically in 2021-2022 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Hit especially hard by rising inflation, protests against the rising cost of living were found throughout the region. In addition, a“pink tide” demanding abortion rights and an end to violence against women also spread across the region- including in Central America- with protests in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru. Protests to defend the environment and indigenous rights continue to be prevalent(e.g., Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru). However, the main grievance continues to be the failure of democracy/political representation in a region where the elites have controlled many states for decades. Middle East and North Africa After the Arab Spring, the number of protests in the MENA region decreased as countries attempted to address citizens' concerns. However, starting in 2015, there has been an upward trend in protests. A significant increase in protests related to freedom of assembly, speech, and press has been observed in the past four years, making it the third most common issue, behind calls for democracy and against corruption(e.g., Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Iran). As some countries have restricted free speech in response to the Arab Spring, protest movements have adapted their demands to make their voices heard. Worldwide inflationary tendencies impacted the region as well with cost of living related protests reported in Lebanon, Libya and Morocco. North America In North America the number of new episodes of protest declined somewhat since 2020’s massive Black Lives Matter protests drew between 15 and 26 million people into the streets during the height of the Covid pandemic in what may be the largest demonstrations in US history. Protests against US immigration and detention policies were ongoing, as were protests with misogyny and white nationalism at their core; the storming of the US Capitol was the most notable example. A huge movement for women’s reproductive rights was ignited between May and July 2022 between a leak of the US Supreme Court decision on abortion rights and the announcement of their official ruling. A new labor movement in the US also emerged with unionization efforts in companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Google. In 2022 in Canada, the