First Tunisia, then Egypt, now Libya. With stirrings & protests in Iran, Algeria, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Morocco, Yemen, Kuwait, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Somalia, and Sudan, it appears that we are at the cusp of what could be a dramatic reshaping of the Middle East & North Africa. Now I am not going to pretend to be educated about the internal specifics of each of these countries, or whether or not their rulers are good or bad. It just might be that in some of these countries, the government that ultimately arises from the ashes of this turmoil might in fact prove to be worse than the one it replaces, but it is pretty exciting nonetheless to see oppressed people anywhere rise up and unite, rise up and say "we are taking our nation back." Only time will tell how many of these regimes fall to the people of their respective nations, and only time will tell whether the ultimate results will be better for the people of these nations and better for us. But with self-determination and liberty such an integral part of our national identity and so ingrained in our spirit, it is hard not to root for these protesters... to feel a sense of solidarity with their yearnings for freedom. If these movements are truly about throwing off the shackles of oppression, then it is a special moment in history that we are witnessing right before our eyes. Something akin to the Berlin Wall coming down and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Maybe I'm being naive, but I have to believe that a Middle East of free peoples will make the world a safer place. Once again, only time will tell...
...and you know I'll be watching.
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