On the 15th of June, the renowned journalist and political writer of Palestinian descent, Rami Khouri, gave a lecture at the ICDS Forum on "Democratic Transition in the Arab World: the Cases of Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon." Mr. Khouri outlined the common trends in these three countries and argued that the similarity in Arab public responses to injustice and repression, despite the divergence in their particular situations, are an interesting phenomenon that deserves to be further analyzed.

In the past couple of months there has been an unprecedented level of political awareness, public participation and vocal criticism of the ruling regimes throughout the Arab world. For the first time in their history, Arab populations have been aggressively active in peaceful struggle against their own regimes taking to the streets in angry demonstrations. In the past their anger and indignation was directed at foreign occupiers, the West, and Israel; now it is mobilized in the cause of freedom and political reform. For the first time in their history, groups (with a few notable exceptions such as Hamas) calling for change are choosing to follow peaceful means intended to reform rather than overthrow their governments. For the first time in their history, Arab populations are questioning the interference of security forces in public life and are openly calling for public accountability of the military and security forces. The proliferation of opposition media, the mushrooming of citizen groups calling for reform, the rise in peaceful public protests, and the increased activism of civil society organizations all suggest that Arab populations are beginning to awaken from their prolonged hibernation.

Mr. Khouri argued that the timing of this wave of opposition to the status-quo is no coincidence. In addition to the domino effect, he argued that the post Cold War period increased the pressure on the regimes internally, as governments are no longer capable of playing off major world powers to extract aid. As a consequence, the governments can no longer buy allegiance and silence dissent through the provision of social security. Mr. Khouri also pointed to another interesting trend: vigorous political activism seems to burst forth after the passage of generation (20-30 years) of a despotic situation. In Egypt 24 years have passed since Mubarak came to power, in Lebanon 29 years have passed since the Syrian military presence on Lebanese soil, and in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip 20 years passed since the 1967 occupation and the first Intifada. The fact that up to 65% of these countries' populations is under the age of 30 creates a population concerned about future opportunities and fair and equal chances to compete.

While Mr. Khouri believes that the increased political activism is essentially a home-grown effort, he argues that the favorable international climate has allowed people to break the threshold of fear that has previously paralyzed Arab populations into inaction. Western and particularly American pressure has come after their realization that supporting authoritarian and corrupt regimes and placing stability over democracy in the Arab world has achieved neither and contributed to the rise of terrorism? given that citizens lacked peaceful mechanisms to channel their frustration and opposition to the status-quo. This realization has led to a change in American foreign policy?which has increased its criticism and pressure on its traditional allies such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Khouri argued that the evolution of the political sphere in the aforementioned countries will largely depend on the nature of the relationships between secular, Islamic and ethnic forces; the relationships among Arab countries; the relationships between Arab countries and the international community including states, civil societies, and international organizations; and finally the relationships between state arms, both civil and military, and civil society. Finally, the mind-set, interests and demands of the youth?which compose 65% of the total population? will determine the consequences of the current rise in political activism and boldness. One thing is clear, the mounting calls of "Kifaya" (Enough) throughout the region are presenting a challenge to governments seeking to maintain their monopoly on power. On their side, regimes are desperately responding by both increasing lip-service and promises of reform and by repressing their most dangerous opponents.