Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Surge of People Power in the Middle East

by M. Shahid Alam, February 02, 2011

"........The events unfolding mark yet another attempt by an important segment of the Islamic world to end the stasis of history imposed upon them. Starting with the industrial programs of Mohammad Ali Pasha in the early decades of the 19th century, Western powers have reversed several previous attempts by the Arabs to re-enter the stage of history. Will the Western powers again choose to stand in the way of this new beginning? Almost certainly, they will try both overtly and covertly. Is it possible that this time such obstructionism is too late – and counterproductive as well? In the early 1920s, the Western powers failed to dismember Turkey. They have failed to derail the Iranian revolution. Can they now stand up against another surge of people power in the Arab world, in Afghanistan and Pakistan – and beyond? "

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