Further to my blog from Feb. 23, the National Post runs a most informative analysis by Chip Pitts of Stanford Law School and National Post’s Aileen Donnelly entitled Ripe for Revolt? Who Might Fall.
Their analysis not only takes into account the internet users, but also cell phones in the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. The level of cell phone usage in some countries even appears to exceed the population!! (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE).
Coupled with the Democracy Index (generally in the sub-sub basement), Military Spending and Corruption Score (generally in the super-super attic) the analysts propose whether revolution is likely and their estimation of the possibility of success. What they don’t say is what defines success???? It would be clearer if this could be determined in relation to the next natural developmental step for each country. Ah well … the analysis is brilliant anyway … and we will just have to stay tuned to see how the country might define success.
[...] watch continues as events unfold in North African and the Middle Eastern cities and countries. We wonder whether and how autocracies [...]