Damn! Who pressed the button on the Middle East? Why now? Nations of people are showing disobedience from Gibraltar to the Horn of Africa. What gives? Are we to believe that only the wide spread use of the Internet and social media is the wild card here? If that is true than I suppose that Zukerberg is the Man of the Year. What is probably closer to the truth is that high food costs and limited opportunity, persistent repression, dissatisfaction with regional politics combined with mobile technology pried open the flood gates of democracy. Alternative media (yeah)like Al Jezera were pivitol too.
Finally, we cannot give short shrift to the Obama effect. Yes, I do believe that the president's speech to leaders of the "Muslim world" in Egypt in 2009 was heard loud and clear on the streets of Tunis and Cairo. I suspect that a wink and a nod from the global political power structure probably helped too.
I saw some British guy on Morning Joe this morning saying how Obama blew it on Eygpt. Sounds to me like the monarchy did not get their way this time? I tried to listen further, but he was about as convincing to me as Tony Blair. I turned the channel.
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