Publication

This briefing, written at the end of February 2011 as the Gaddafi regime clings on to power in Libya in the face of protests right across the country, seeks to assess the significance of the developments of the past four weeks across the Arab world, and attempts to put this in a wider context. The deep-seated problems of divided societies, extreme poverty and unsustainable economies remain, but there is a prospect of positive change that will not easily go away, whatever the setbacks in the coming weeks.