This time last year, the leaders of Egypt, Libya, Syria and even Tunisia had little reason to worry about their tenure. The aftermath of Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation last December changed it all for the 120m people in those four countries and for many more beyond their borders. Tunisia, Egypt and Libya now have new leaders; Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power in Syria looks ever more tenuous. The decline of Arab autocracy promises to raise living standards and economic performance across the region. But it will take a while to deliver.
去年這個時候，埃及、利比亞、敘利亞甚至突尼斯的領導人基本上都還沒有什么理由擔心自己的政權。穆罕默德?布阿齊茲(Mohamed Bouazizi)在去年12月自焚的事件產生了巨大的影響，對這四個國家的1.2億民眾以及其他一些國家的許多人來說，形勢發生了翻天覆地的變化。突尼斯、埃及和利比亞目前有了新的領導人；敘利亞的巴沙爾?阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)政權看起來也越來越不穩定。阿拉伯獨裁政權垮臺可能會使該地區的生活水平和經濟表現得到提高，但這需要一段時間。