A positive appraisal of 2011:
In the time since the end of the Cold War, there have been many years in which advocates of freedom and democracy found endless reasons for gloom and few for hope. This was not one of those years.
January witnessed protests that led to the departure of Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt since 1981, and December brought the death of North Korea's Kim Jong Il, whose country erases any distinction between communism and hell. In between came obituaries for a reclusive resident of Abbottabad, Pakistan, who expired during an unscheduled meeting with U.S. Navy SEALs.
Muslims in the Middle East, which had been markedly resistant to the spread of liberty, were responsible for the year's most momentous human rights development. The "Arab spring" began last December when a young Tunisian produce vendor set himself on fire after being abused by police. His act sparked a mass uprising that on Jan. 14 induced tyrant Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country.
I agree that this has seemed to be a better year for freedom and democratic movements than some past years. It's especially heartening that there have beens so many peaceful transfers of power (i.e. elections) in Africa. But I guess I'm not as optimistic as the author. The death of Kim Jong Il won't make things any better in North Korea, and it's not certain yet what the toppling of Moammar Gadhafi will mean. It's also not clear whether the "Arab spring" will result in liberation of the oppressed or the ascendancy of militant Islamist extremism.
It will be interesting to see what the year looks like to Freedom House, the group does an annual survey of political rights and civil liberties. That's a little more accurate and definitive than speculating on what the effect of this or that movement might be. Last year, it issued a report detailing the changes in calendar year 2009, and it wasn't a pretty picture:
According to the survey's findings, 2009 marked the fourth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a decline—the longest consecutive period of setbacks for freedom in the nearly 40-year history of the report.
