Supposedly, democracy is sweepnig the Muslim world. We merely need to sit back and watch. From Tunisia and Egypt, its all going to flow easily, nonviolently, without outside help.
If only. Democracy will not come to Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Syria and others merely through non-violent protests without outside help.
That the US was caught flat-footed by the Egyptian revolution might be understandable, but instead of devising a vision of the future, the US seems as flat-footed now as then. The US has to decide how important it really is to see democracy, equality of opportunity and economic advancement in the Arab world. They will not come by domino effect.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
