Egypt and other North African and Middle Eastern nations with similar corrupt regimes out of touch with their people are less susceptible, we're told, because the corruption there is not so concentrated and exclusive, not so greedy and more spread out at the top, making such a massive street outpouring more complicated to spark.
Two things helped set off the Tunisian eruption. First, Mohamed Bouazizi, a poor, struggling fruit peddler was harassed by a government factotum to the point he set himself on fire before the governor's house in a poor province of the country.
Then once the street reaction grew, demonstrators became aware of cables released by WikiLeaks that showed US diplomats expressing disgust at the levels of corruption and greed they witnessed in the Ben Ali regime -- at the same time these diplomats made it clear the Ben Ali regime was working for US interests and was, thus, just fine with the United States.
An op-ed in The New York Times by the young Tunisian novelist Kamel Riahi shows how frightening it can be to be in the middle of a bottom-up social conflagration.
Right now, "the Tunisian Street" is in a confusing struggle for control of the nation with remnants of the Ben Ali regime, the police, the Tunisian army and the best and worst of human nature. How the decimated and banned Communist and Islamic parties factor into the mix is an open question.
The Islamic Al-Nahda party -- in English The Renaissance Party -- was crushed by the Ben Ali gang, its leaders murdered, exiled or tortured. One of those leaders, Ali Larayedh, was imprisoned and tortured for 14 years. He is now part of a true renaissance movement and the center of great popular interest, as is the founder of the party, now exiled in London. Larayedh says his party is a modern Islamic party that advocates free and fair democratic elections, women's rights and the selling of liquor.
"We are Muslim, but we are not against modernism," he told a Times reporter. "We are still against the political agenda of American interference in Arabic countries."
All eyes should be on Tunisia, since the current crisis is a chaotic and democratic experiment ripe for meddling. If Larayedh is right, it could become a model for moderate Islamic governance, something that, of course, terrifies many westerners who preach democracy but abandon that line and resort to military violence when Islam is involved.
As the Tunisian eruption was unfolding, Hillary Clinton weighed in last week with what The New York Times called "a scalding critique of Arab leaders" at a conference in Qatar in the Persian Gulf.Clearly aware of the implications of unfolding crises in Tunisia, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq, Clinton took the podium and ripped into Arab leaders. (In Lebanon the government had collapsed; in Afghanistan, Karzai and the Parliament were on a collision course; and in Iraq, a firebrand Shiite had returned from exile in Iran and over 50 Shiites were slaughtered in bomb blasts.)
"In too many places, in too many ways, the region's foundations are sinking into the sand," Clinton said. "The new and dynamic Middle East that I have seen needs firmer ground if it is to take root and grow everywhere."
She fulminated on corruption. To do anything in the Arab and Islamic world "you have to pass money through so many different hands," she said. Arab leaders' determination to hold onto the past and to keep those with power in power was killing future opportunities and future growth. The woman was on fire.
"Those who cling to the status quo may be able to hold back the full impact of their countries' problems for a little while, but not forever," she scolded. "If leaders don't offer a positive vision and give young people meaningful ways to contribute, others will fill the vacuum."
Of course, she was absolutely right, and the audience of Arab foreign ministers, business people and rights groups were "stone-faced," according to the Times reporter. In Tunisia, "others" were in fact filling the vacuum. And the Islamic Al-Nahda party in Tunisia was calling for real democracy, amnesty for exiles and social programs for the poor.
A performance like Clinton's always recalls for me the moment on the Rachel Maddow Show when, during a discussion on Afghanistan, Maddow asked former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski about the corruption in Afghanistan.
Clearly charmed by Maddow, Brzezinski seemed caught off guard. He chuckled and said: "Yeh, Rachel. But what about the corruption in Washington?"
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