Baghdad Spring?

Thomas Friedman in today’s New York Times (registration required) asks if we are witnessing the Baghdad Spring. He writes that “It's good news, bad news time again for the Middle East. The good news is that what you are witnessing in the Arab world is the fall of its Berlin Wall. The old autocratic order is starting to crumble. The bad news is that unlike the Berlin Wall in central Europe, the one in the Arab world is going to fall one bloody brick at a time…” and surveys the prospects for democratic reform throughout the Middle East. Fingers crossed and let’s hope that the left and wider labour movement align themselves with the reformers rather than the reactionaries.