More than 150 years ago, a correspondent for the New York Times, bearded and with a penchant for purple prose wrote: A spectre is haunting Europe and it is that of Revolution. Today we can say that the spewctre of political change is haunting the Middle East and the fall of Ben Ali who rule Tunisis for nearly 25 years the imminent regime change in Egypt shows that the people of the Middle East have got tired of the keptocarcies that have been in power thanks to Western backing. The demonstrations are full of educated youth who are demannding political change and democracy. It would be a mistake to regard these changes as manifestations of al-qaeda inspired regime change. For too long the people have chaffed under brutal authoritarian regimes that have rendered thmselves irrelevant in the cyber age.
The protestes are using twitter and facebook to rally support and this was precicely the two cyber age phenomenon that the street demonstrators used in Iran early last year. This this new and novel form of politicalmobilisation we can add yet another, the Qatar based sattilite channel, Al-Jazeera. The authoritarian regimes have forbidden this newschannel to operate from their territories, but they cannot prevent the reception of the Arabic news coverage through sattelites channeled via the ubiquitous dish antenna. Al Jazeera has become the most powerful voice of dissent in the Middle East. Eschewing the normal farwe of news channels with celebrity talks shows and mindless entertainment, Al Jazeera has pioneered a heady cocktail of corruption, political chicanery and personal/political resentment. It does not preach radical Islam as alleged by the Western media. It ruthlessly exposes the corruption and abuse of power that has become endemic in the region. Using simple market speech, the Al Jazeera news coverage is able to reach deep into Arab society where the national news channels enjoy very little credibility.
The next regime that willtopple is Mubarak's regime in Egypt. Already the Army, the last bastion of a discredited regime is showing signs of restlessness. It is only a matter of time before that regime crumbles. The action taken by Mubarck against the Palestinians is the single most important reason for the growing resentment. The Islamic Brotherhood is co course waiting in the wings, but the resentment on the street is real and primal. The fall of the Saudi regime is the ultimate prize but the brutal Saudi monarchy has alredy begun showing signs of panic.
The news channel Al Jazeera, unlike the consensus market driven news channels is fanning the flames of political change and all power to them.