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The Arab Quarter Century

(New York Times)Thomas Friedman - The Arab Quarter Century I guess it's official now: The term "Arab Spring" has to be retired. There is nothing springlike going on. Strategist Anthony Cordesman is probably right when he argues: It's best we now speak of the "Arab Decade" or the "Arab Quarter Century" - a long period of intrastate and intraregional instability. Two things surprise me. The first is how incompetent the Muslim Brotherhood has been. In Egypt, the Brotherhood has presided over an economic death spiral. The second surprise? How weak the democratic opposition has been. The old sources of stability that held this region together are gone. No iron-fisted outside powers want to occupy these countries anymore, because all you win today is a bill. No iron-fisted dictators can control these countries anymore, because their people have lost their fear.
2013-04-10 00:00:00
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