Egypt-Tunisia (Arab Report‪)‬

Changing Map of the Arab World Egypt has long been regarded as the heart and center of gravity of the Arab world. Last week, that country with a population of eighty million was rocked by street demonstrations, marches and protests that could have unpredictable consequences for the region and the Western world. Initially most Arab leaders withheld their comments on the Egyptian events and wondered whether the winds of change, which started blowing from Tunisia would sweep away other Arab authoritarian regimes. Jordan, Yemen, Sudan, Algeria and Iraq were already busy trying to quell their own domestic unrest and turmoil in what seemed to be a changing map of the Arab world. Leftist and Arab nationalist commentators did not hesitate to express their support for the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and condemned the secession of southern Sudan, blaming President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for allowing it to happen in the first place. Talal Salman, publisher of the leftist and pro-Syrian Beirut daily AS SAFIR, also blamed the United States for all the trouble that has been taking place in these Arab countries.