The Bouazizi 'big bang'
It was an act of self-immolation that would change the course of Arab political history. That is the significance of Mohamed Bouazizi one year on. It will be years before December 17, 2010 and the subsequent chain of events his act set off in Tunisia - and later on across the Arab world - are profoundly grasped by historians and social scientists. ...
The writing was on the wall and I wrote in my AJE column in September 2010 about 'Bin Ali the last Bey' of Tunisia. When I wrote about 'dynastic republicanism' in November 2009, I was engaging in a prognosis of a situation of absolute power and corruption screaming for attention in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Gamal and Saif al Islam are in prison, and Ahmed Saleh in Yemen will not inherit power from his father - who gave up power recently. ...
All Arabs are breathing in the air of freedom which is expanding the appetite for equal citizenship. They are out of the tunnel. They are more comfortable with their 'Arabhood' than they were 12 months ago. For they have discovered that fellow human beings from Barzil to Sydney champion their struggles and applaud their courage and sacrifices, and some even stage their own protests inspired by the fervour and hope they have generated.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/12/2011121713215670692.html
