DUBAI — From Egypt to Jordan and Algeria to Yemen, Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” has begun to undermine Arab regimes that have for decades maintained their control through fear, analysts say.
“The question is wh remains,” not which country is next, said Amr Hamzawy, research director at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut, adding protests could affect most Arab states except for Gulf oil monarchies.
“There have been some protest activities in the past in a scattered manner, but now there is a regional trend where citizens are taking to the streets to protest for social, economic and political rights — it’s not a one-country issue and a one-day phenomenon.”
“What happened in Tunisia has broken the shackles of fear and showed that it was possible — with surprising speed — to topple a regime, and that it wasn’t as difficult as the people imagined,” said Burhan Ghalioun, director of the Centre d’études sur l’Orient Contemporain in Paris who in 1977 wrote a Manifesto for Democracy in the Arab world.
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