And what of Iran?

Mao Tse-Tung famously said, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Although I (and others) gleefully noted that this wasn’t the case in Egypt, the assertion was too glib in retrospect. History has stubbornly shown that Mao’s observation is more often right than wrong (see Libya). James Miller of EA WorldView acknowledges this reality in a thoughtful piece about Iran in the aftermath of Mubarak’s toppling. In Tehran, “The protesters are still showing up, still chanting, still marching, but as the old adage goes, words do not break bones,” he writes. “Events will move to the breaking point, when someone holds a gun to someone else's head, and everyone is forced to react.” I’m inclined to agree. Miller’s concluding words may prove prophetic. “The earthquakes of Egypt and Tunisia built up for a long time on softer ground. It has taken, and will take, much longer for the fault lines to break the foundations of Iran's government. When it happens, the regime is likely to go quickly, and like a high-magnitude earthquake, the results will be felt far and wide. We're already feeling the foreshocks, but the whole world is waiting for the big one.” Let’s hope it happens sooner rather than later.