Anyone who’s long followed the Middle East knows that the six most dangerous words after any cataclysmic event in this region are: “Things will never be the same.” After all, this region absorbed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Google without a ripple.
But traveling through Israel, the West Bank and Jordan to measure the shock waves from Egypt, I’m convinced that the forces that were upholding the status quo here for so long ”” oil, autocracy, the distraction of Israel, and a fear of the chaos that could come with change ”” have finally met an engine of change that is even more powerful: China, Twitter and 20-year-olds.
Quip going around:
To the Egyptian rioters:
Please don’t damage the pyramids. We will not rebuild them.
An Israeli
Kendall and the Elves, you all should link a few times to Spengler at Asia Times Online. He has some really good commentary on the demographics of the Arab world and the role of Asia in sucking up cheap food and making it expensive for everyone else.