Pandemic Revolutions, the Bewildered West, and the Friendly Autocrats

While finalizing this issue of the IdPS, changes seem to happen in previously frozen regimes of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Revolutions, protests, and civil wars are happening in more than fifteen countries. Will this wave of protests bring democracy, human rights, prosperity, and freedoms? We do not know yet. What we know is that this answer and the way it is addressed is of primary concern for the international stake-holders that wish to maintain and possibly foster their influence on the area.