Egyptian Protest

Mining money talks the loudest in Australian politics

by Laurie Oakes

110
Please enter your password

by Lucy Kippist

210
This concern for Thomson won’t change the script

by Mark Kenny

310
Weekend Punch: Tea or coffee?

by The Punch Team

410
Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

by Claire Mallinson

510
Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

by The Punch Team

610
Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

by Tory Maguire

710
“Fizzy”, “gusto”, “disco” and other words we love

by Lucy Kippist

810
Ray Beckwith: the science behind the wine

by David Penberthy

910
The world puzzles over Australia’s Prime Minister

by Mark Kenny

1010

Don’t expect the Middle East to fall like dominos

22 Feb 05:30am

Filed under: Egyptian Protest, Libya, Middle East, Protests, Revolution

First it was Tunisia’s leader, then Egypt’s. Now the protests in the Middle East seem to have spread to riots in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere, including to the point where the Libyan leader, Mu’amar Qadhafi, is close to being overthrown.

Protestors outside the Libyan embassy in Cairo. Image: AFP.

But how valid is the ‘domino theory’ of popular protest? Are we seeing the start of a region-wide collapse of leaders and regimes?

Probably not. One or two more leaders might go: Qadhafi is truly in trouble, as is Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. However real revolutions are rare, and for good reasons.

Continue reading "Don’t expect the Middle East to fall like dominos" »

Latest 2 of 20 comments

View all comments

DS says:

01:10am | 23/02/11

James Milton, do you march when non-Muslim leaders make horrible statements? Such as when Christian leaders make comments on homosexuality, or when politicans attack Islam? Maybe the millions of moderate Muslims are just living their lives, like you do when you don’t protest terrible statements? Read more »
james milton says:

06:57pm | 22/02/11

@Grumpy Actually, I think you’ll find most of the Islam anit-democracy statements that make the headlines are made by Muslim community leaders. Principles of schools, Imams, men who command great respect in their community. Of course, the millions of ‘moderate Muslims’ always show their distaste for leaders who say women… Read more »

Add your comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

antsharwood 26 May 12 08:25PM

@daniels_den curry with pasta? That's just wrong. Sure @minaon will back me up on this one

antsharwood 26 May 12 08:08PM

You know that Chinese dish sang choy bau? I made Curry choy bau. #yum #fusioncuisine http://t.co/dwqxfZWQ

ToryShepherd 26 May 12 01:27PM

Cheeky beers with morning papers in unexpected sunshine http://t.co/MD7VPRne

antsharwood 26 May 12 01:27PM

http://t.co/Zq0nGxkf nice pic of Thredbo this morning

See all tweets

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]