Arab Spring: Teenage Temper Tantrum

I've lived and worked in the Middle East and Southeast Asia and what is happening in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria seems to me to be very much like a teenager's rebellion.  These societies are growing up and have gotten a taste of wealth and modernity and are now in a very awkward adolescent phase.  Some of the Dads were nasty but even if they were fairly benign, the kids are just sick of being told what to do.  Sometimes this ends up being a time of growth into maturity but sometimes it is a time when the teen runs off the rails.  I fear for many Arab states the combination of the disappearance of long term authority structures and decades of heavy, intolerant Islamization will lead to a lot of teen countries in the ditch.  Sigh.

SPENGLER: Endgame For Egypt. “The misnamed ‘Arab Spring,’ really a convulsion of a dying society, began with food shortages. Egypt imports half its caloric consumption, 45% of its people are illiterate, its university graduates are unemployable, its $10 billion a year tourism industry is shuttered for the duration, and its foreign exchange reserves are gradually disappearing.”