Revolution in the Arab World - Observation of a lost soul Blog

foreign policy • revolution in the arab world
Introduction
Editor’s Note
The Arab revolutions of 2011 have already overturned the false edifice of
stability that had masked the furious changes sweeping across the region.
It is far too soon to know whether they will produce real transitions to democracy,
renewed authoritarian rule, or an era of instability and unending
street politics. Nor is it yet clear how this new popular energy will affect the
great issues of power politics in the region, from the Arab-Israeli conflict to
the nuclear standoff with Iran.
But the dizzying changes that have toppled two of the world’s most entrenched
leaders in the space of weeks this winter have already fundamentally
challenged assumptions about the region, not to mention reshape politics
for decades to come. This collection of essays, originally published on
ForeignPolicy.com, represents a first effort to assess, interpret, analyze, and
understand the whirlwind of change—and thanks to the possibilities of our
new digital era, to do so in real time, as the revolutions continue to unfold.
We promise more updates, both of this ebook and every day on the Middle
East Channel, a special section of Foreign Policy’s award-winning website.
It is commonly said that nobody saw these revolutions coming. But this
is not exactly right. For years, Middle East experts have been warning of the
corrosive effects of entrenched authoritarianism and the rising frustrations
of a disenfranchised youth bubble. With each gerrymandered and fraudulent
election, each arrest of dissident bloggers and journalists, each report
of youth unemployment and crisis of human development, each crackdown
on legitimate protests, they sounded warnings. But these constant warn-
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