arab spring
How can this not be the most impactful, most astounding news story of
the year? As the Middle East rang in 2011, Mohamed Bouazizi, a
26-year-old street vendor, lay in a hospital bed in Tunisia, with burns
over 90 percent of his body, suffered in a Dec. 17, 2010,
self-immolation protest over harassment he received from police.
Bouazizi died on Jan. 4, the Tunisian people protested, and 10 days
later President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose authoritarian rule dated
back to a 1987 coup, fled the country. Peaceful protests began in Egypt
on Jan. 25, as citizens from all walks of life filled Tahrir Square in
Cairo to demand that President Hosni Mubarak step down from power. By
Feb. 11, Mubarak's 30-year rule was over. By fall, Libya was free. And
endings still have yet to be written in the Yemen and Syria uprisings
against authoritarian rule.
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