The Protester was the Time magazine person, or "entity", of the year 2011. 2012 marks no close to that entity's influence so far politically and socially. With the ongoing interest in the future of North Africa and the Arab world, CNN continued their Emory University based CNN Dialogues on last week, the first of the year (February 9). Hosted by CNN international anchor Hala Gorani, in the Glenn Memorial Auditorium, "The Arab Spring: A Path to Democracy" forum addressed "issues of democracy, women’s rights, the role of Islamists, and the role of social media in the uprisings from Tunisia to Egypt to Bahrain to Yemen." Included in the dialogues were Ahed Al Hendi, activist; Carrie Wickham, political science professor, Emory; Dalia Ziada, activist and Egypt Office director; Lamees Dhaif, journalist/activist; and Nic Robertson CNN senior international correspondent.
Many panelists responded to the current turmoil in Syria, Al Hendi and Robertson agreeing that the situation there will perhaps not ameliorate itself immediately. Robertson admonished, "arming the opposition in Syria will make the opposition feel that they can achieve their goals. However, once the opposition has these weapons, the conflict may get worse."
Dictatorships and the merge to democracies were cause for concern. Journalist Daif personified the effects of revolution, comparing it to "someone waking up from a 40 year coma. They won’t just run in the street after waking. They will wake up and recover slowly." Wickham concurred, noting "dictatorships do not dissolve over night." However, even though the evolution of the Arab nations will be slow and though mutated forms of dictatorships have evolved, like in Egypt, Ziada believes "[it] was worth it because it led to change."
For the future of the Arab Spring, the technological affects leave much to be desired, as Gorani sees "a lot of young people with technical and useful skills" departing for work and study elsewhere. And Ziada predicts more revolutions to come: "The Arab Spring will come to Palestine soon."
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