by Zack Beauchamp
Martin Gurri thinks we're seeing them in the former:
Dictatorship must have seemed an eternal condition, like nature itself. This is what we, in the liberal West, must remember when we consider demonstration effects on the Libyan or Syrian public. The rule of Qaddafi and the Assads was without challenge and without end. Qaddafi’s bizarreness only made him more sinister. He willed his creepy version of reality upon the public, and the public, however repelled, could not think of a single instance of their ruler’s will being thwarted. There was no precedent for a challenge to power, much less for a successful revolt. That has now changed.
Daniel Serwer looks at next steps for Syria's protestors. Scott Lucas and James Miller collect videos of today's many protests in Syria, including some explicitly linking Qaddafi and Assad.
(Photo of children in Sana'a, Yemen dressed up as "The Arab Spring" via Scott Lucas.)
The Dish 