Why the Embassy Riots Won’t Stop
foreignpolicy.com
The world has become one big crowded theater, and anyone with a laptop can now yell “fire” and set off a stampede.
The riots erupting across the Arab world over the hate-filled video Innocence of Muslims have taken many people, including those responsible for security at U.S. embassies, by surprise. After all, Barack Obama’s administration has assiduously been working to improve America’s ties and standing with Muslim societies, from the president’s speeches in Ankara and Cairo in 2009 to the policies supporting emerging democratic movements in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, and other Arab states. Furthermore, the current anger in the streets of Cairo and Tunis is over a film the U.S. government had no hand in creating or promoting, and it would therefore be logical to assume that once enough steam is let off and the protests run their course, everything will go back to the status quo that existed before this week.
Unfortunately, that’s probably not true. It’s far more likely that the events of this week mark the beginning of a period in which violent protests against the United States in Arab countries will become more commonplace. Three reasons stand out.