Egypt’s Effects Go Beyond Its Borders

What’s happening in the streets of Cairo and elsewhere around Egypt is likely to lead to substantial changes in that country that could well be contagious across the region.  —KA

The New York Times:

The Arab world watched a moment that suggested it would never be the same again—and waited to see whether protest or crackdown would win the day. Words like uprising and revolution only hint at the scale of events in Egypt, which have already reverberated across Yemen, Jordan, Syria and even Saudi Arabia, offering a new template for change in a region that long reeled from its own sense of stagnation.

“Every Egyptian understands now,” said Magdi al-Sayyid, one of the protesters.

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AP / Lefteris Pitarakis

Pro-government demonstrators, bottom, clash with anti-government demonstrators, top right, as a palm tree burns from a firebomb in Tahrir Square in Cairo early Thursday.