Another Historical Moment is a'coming

courtesy of the BBC online

LINK

What will the UN do?

Funny (NYT)

Article talking about the Bahrain protests. Below is a quote talking about the signs that Sunni minority has been oppressing the the Shia majority:

"Here in Bahrain, we have been in bed with a minority Sunni elite that has presided over a tolerant, open and economically dynamic country — but it’s an elite that is also steeped in corruption, repression and profound discrimination toward the Shia population. If you parachute into a neighborhood in Bahrain, you can tell at once whether it is Sunni or Shia: if it has good roads and sewers and is well maintained, it is Sunni; otherwise, it is Shia.

Funny, because replace "Shia" with "minority" and you have the exact same picture in the US.

Lessons from Egypt

Things are far from over in Egypt... protests continue; Mubarak is digging in, to try and stay in power until September (!!!!); "Western" leadership are speaking out of both sides of their mouths - supporting democratic aspiration while supporting Mubarak staying in power "for the time being"; Israel is freaking out about the potential fall out from a change in the Egyptian guard - who will keep Gaza's other border locked now? etc etc etc

But while all this is happening, students of political science and history can take notes... what are the potential and limitations of peaceful protests? Will it work in Egypt? Will it work in Palestine? Did it work in Tibet? in India?

Clearly the situation matters.

As a Jamaican, the stories of most of our national heroes instill me with the belief that sometimes, you have to raise your arm in violence, in particular, when violence is used against you. While many factors brought the end of slavery, I have the feeling that violent slave revolts were a necessary precondition. This is the only way to make oppression economically impractical.

Food for thought... interesting discussion below: