After being frozen in time for decades, many wondered whether real political change in the Middle East was possible.

The military will not allow instability indefinitely, again to avoid losing the initiative to the streets.

Anti-government demonstrations broke out all across Egypt on January 25 and have continued daily since.

The regimes that turned back mighty European empires soon petrified politically.

Obama faces a growing constraint that his predecessors did not: the relative decline of American global power.

Pakistan and Iran must both look to a regionally guaranteed stability as the occupation in Afghanistan ends.

Importantly, in the words of Israeli/Gazan scribe Amira Hass, journalists must always “monitor the centres of power.”

Sialkot lynching has also led to reactive and de-contextualised demonisation of the entire Pakistani nation.