College of Political Knowledge

International Desk–Middle East sub-desk

Probably NOT!  To answer my own question……..

I realize that NOT many Americans give two craps in Hell about what is happening in Tunisia, which I have written about in the past….but the uninformed is always caught with their pants around their ankles…..

Step back in time a couple of weeks…massive protests in Tunisia over corruption, food prices, unemployment, etc…all the same stuff that many of us are thinking about these days of dwindling employment……people took to the streets…..president (a dictator) went on the lame…..Prime Minister resigned…..and the government was toppled……

A very short and concise analysis of the happenings in that country….but you ask :so what”?  Right?

How about on to Egypt……

The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says that while the protesters are still only a minority of Egyptians, they show no sign of fading away and there is a chance that many more people will join once the working week finishes on Thursday.

The government appears to have no answer to the anger and disappointment being expressed on the streets, our correspondent adds – its only response so far has been to crack down on demonstrators and increase security.

Oh yeah…they are sick of no jobs, high food prices, corruption and a police state….sound familiar?

So there are a few Arabs upset with their government……and then there is Yemen……

Yemeni opposition members and youth activists gathered in four parts of the city, including Sanaa University, chanting anti-government slogans.

They also called for economic reforms and an end to corruption.

Yemenis complain of mounting poverty among a growing young population and frustration with a lack of political freedoms.

Yemen is struggling with soaring unemployment and dwindling oil and water reserves. Almost half its 23 million people live on $2 or less a day, and one-third suffer from chronic hunger.The country has also been plagued by a range of security issues, including a separatist movement in the south and an uprising of Shia Houthi rebels in the north.

Yemenis are angry over parliament’s attempts to loosen the rules on presidential term limits, sparking opposition concerns that Mr Saleh might try to appoint himself president for life.

Mr Saleh is also accused of wanting to hand power to his eldest son, Ahmed, who heads the elite presidential guard, but he has denied the accusations.

So a couple of countries in the Middle East have a couple of pissed off citizens….what difference does it make to you?  Unrest!  And how could all that effect the flow of oil?

Among the states analysts suggest may be flashpoints are Egypt, Jordan, Syria and other North African countries. Popular frustrations extend to the Gulf, but these oil-producing states with vast financial reserves have a welfare system in place to buy off the opposition.

When or whether other Arab states will reach a tipping point is far from clear. But analysts said Tunisia’s experience shows momentum can gather quickly even in a state with notoriously tight security that had till now effectively smothered dissent.

Looks like a fledgling democracy movement may be a foot….of course most of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa are authoritarian there will be bloodshed…..and there will be a bit of panic and when panic sets in your gas prices will probably go up if it is not extinguished quickly….and the American people will scratch their heads and not understand why they must pay more and more for their gas for the family Hummer……

At least I will be fore warned……..

Addendum:  All this chaos worries me for normal people of the areas….I had a friend in Lebanon and have not heard from her since the protests in that country 3 years ago….it was not like her to go with contact….so I have feared since those days that something may have happened to her……If you have friends in the areas under the protests I share your concern for their safety……