And it goes on, even in Iraq

I imagine most readers are following the media, so they may know already that the revolutionary processes are going on in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, among other places, while the situation in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, etc. is still very much open and fluid. Definitively the peoples of the so-called Middle East are not having any more of tyranny and poverty and, as these are so widespread, we can only expect that the revolt will grow and grow, and extend across the often artificial and quite meaningless borders of the region causing major political changes. 

Interestingly the revolution is also extending to Iraq, where corruption and religious intolerance are wreaking havoc in the population since the USA invaded it in 2003.

Sadly the Empire will do everything on its hand to stop and revert this Revolution and this can already be seen in Egypt where the Army is making sure that nothing, absolutely nothing changes, what, of course, will only end up in another Revolution. Maybe Tantawi or Obama or Bibi don't get it but that's how life, real life, is - specially when the revolutionary cycle is on, and it is clearly on again, after some 30 years of Reaganist ethical wasteland.

I'd suggest that it's about time to follow the Tunisian and Egyptian example to the extent that is possible in each particular context at a worldwide scale. It's clear that, while, tyranny is one of the most obvious aspects of these revolutions, there are other deeper causes, namely poverty and injustice. 

Someone famously said at the imperial halls: "it's the economy, stupid!" And effectively, it is the damn stupid economy: after all people need to eat and pay the bills and, if they can't, they will revolt. It does not matter if the government is imposed by the Army or approved in a routine election in which you can only choose certain flavors and not others.

I tried to gather in a map the scenarios of the uprisings of the last years (since the Sidi Ifni ones of 2008) in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Red indicates stronger revolts, pink means milder or more localized ones, green stars indicate armed guerrillas, all them of ethnic nationalist nature. I may be missing some unrest focuses, if so, please tell me.

But what I do not doubt is that, when I republish this map in a few months, it will be much more red.


Update Feb 16: Libya too!

This is really pan-Arab and pan-Middle East: no authoritarian regime is safe it seems, even Qaddafi's unique blend of socialism, Arab nationalism and peculiar Islamism, may not withstand the anger of the people against autocracy and corruption.

This is clearly not about what banner you cower under but about how democratic, transparent and egalitarian the regime is. And there are too many corrupt tyrants and too few transparency and democracy in the whole region.

Revolutionary incidents of some dimension are reported today also in Bahrain, Iran, Yemen and Iraq. It's a total craze - albeit a very justified one. I can just imagine the ibn Sauds cowering in their marble halls unbelieving of what is brewing around them... because Saudia is not, in spite of all, an isolated state. Nor is Israel. And of course all this will end up in Palestine somehow, we all know that.