In Tunisia, a lesson in benign neglect

[Swede]

In marked contrast to the great American enthusiasm for revolutions in ex-Soviet republics, the so-called "Cedar revolution" in Lebanon, and the Green movement in Iran, the Tunisian revolt barely registered in the United States until Ben Ali was gone, and even then, the response was muted. That the Tunisian revolt is not at all useful for those Americans who cheered on these other movements isn’t a surprise: The Tunisian people freed themselves, and they did so at the expense of a U.S. ally.

http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/211238/in-tunisia-a-lesson-in-benign-neglect