Dominoes

The events of the past few weeks are unprecedented in their scope or succession as country after country in the Middle East has ousted long-time rulers. Tunisia, Yemen, and now Egypt see unparalleled uprisings from their citizens who have decided anything is better than the status quo. This domino effect, if you will, must have some sort of common root that has finally tapped into long held resentment. What could it possibly be?

I submit that our seemingly innocuous social networks of Facebook and Twitter are primarily responsible for this phenomenon. Any repressive regime seeks to control the opportunity for its citizenry to communicate in unfettered ways. The fear of reprisals creates an atmosphere where most keep their hopes and aspirations (and frustrations) to themselves. It’s hard to limit such communication in cyberspace and I believe tweets and texts have created the catalyst which has led to almost overnight change within the halls of Mid-East power.

Other countries, in an apparent attempt to avoid similar social unrest, have taken steps to alter their structures. Jordan has fired their cabinet. Pakistan has down-sized theirs and now Iraq’s prime minister al-Maliki has stated that he will not seek re-election. I cannot believe that there is one nation in the region that is not busy trying to be more proactive.

This kind of change is messy, though, and no particular outcome is a certainty. First comes the demonstrations from those that have nothing. These demonstrations are nothing new and historically repressed. Once they begin to catch hold, though, those that have prospered under the current state of affairs take to the streets in support of its continued operation. Clashes ensue and the prospect of a civil war looms. We are seeing that in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities as the struggle continues.

Should despots be thrown from office, the vacuum that follows sometimes presents an environment worse than the previous one. Regardless, once that final straw has been laid upon the camel’s back, nothing else matters save the ousting of the individual seen as responsible for a country’s woes.

To make matters worse, other countries that have turned a blind eye to the dismal state of their allies' domestic affairs must now decide which devil to support: the one known (present) or unknown (future). Mubarak has been considered an ally of America in spite of the harsh tactics doled out to Egyptians. The US must now tread carefully while maintaining the foreign policy of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Or maybe not...

Maybe it is time to shun this practice of embracing such regimes in the name of some greater good. History shows that we usually suffer from such alliances. How about looking a bit farther down the road and recognizing foreign governments for what they are rather than what we want them to be. Providing foreign aid to a country that is essentially a dictatorship is nothing more than a shakedown in which US dollars are provided in return for a promise of political change at some future date. I think we can say that such extortion, while possibly providing a short-term profit, leads to long-term loss for stability and progress.

In the meantime, I find hope in that such seemingly mindless pursuits involving a "social network" have merit and meaning in a world sorely in need of public involvement.