How Iraq will win the Arab Spring
While the aftershocks of a recent bout of violence are still being felt from South Lebanon to Tripoli, the roaring streets of Cairo and their anti-government slogans do not bode well for Egypt’s political stability. Meanwhile, torn apart by devastating civil and proxy war, Syria can no longer be considered the Near Eastern power house it used to be. And despite their financial aura, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE do not have the political strength, manpower or regional unity to single-handedly lead the crumbling Middle Eastern chessboard.
Realities on the ground indicate that the coming years will see the emergence of a major Arab power vacuum which may well be filled by radical and fundamentalist groups further eroding states’ ability to assert their policies in the region.
These widely verified elements constitute a major source of alarm for regional and international policy makers, and analysts should not implicitly dismiss the role that can still be played by Iraq.
For a long time considered a possible buffer state between Iran and its Arab adversaries, Iraq has been partially left out from the mainstream regional calculations after the beginning of the "Arab Spring".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-02-250713.html
