Deeper & wider perspectives on MENA unrest

The still on-going upheavals in the Middle East as well as North Africa was certainly sparked off by domestic incidents. However, it has also set in motion regional or global competitions to attempt to direct the process and to shape outcome. It happened before during the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions and the dynamic is not really new for observers who follow the unfolding of events, with all the dramatic or breathtaking twists and turns, from historical depth and global width. However, unlike the French, Russian as well as Chinese revolutions in the past, the MENA upheavals happen in an epoch of 24/7 satellite TV news programmes, Internet as well as all its derivatives and easy'-'to-use handphones with in'-built 'high'-tech cameras and voice recorders.