The Domino Effect in the Middle East
The impact of the Tunisian popular uprising and the ouster of President Ben Ali on 25th January, 2011, was quickly followed by popular demonstrations and riots in Egypt , bringing Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year regime to its knees. Commentators around the world are now predicting a domino effect of regime changes throughout the Middle East . After Egypt - Jordan , Sudan , Yemen , maybe even Syria are on the likely-candidates list. Spontaneous demonstrations have indeed been reported in each of these countries over the past weeks. The “domino theory” was first popularized in the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union . American politicians justified their intervention in far away lands, to fight the Red Peril of Communism. In 1954, President Eisenhower said: Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen t...