EDITORIAL - Challenges

The attacks on US diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya show how arduous building a nation can be after a revolution. In the Philippines over 26 years ago, it was called people power. In Tunisia in December 2010, and then in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, authoritarian rulers were swept away in a wave of mass protests, in what has been called the Arab Spring.

Even as autocratic ruler after ruler fell from power or came under siege across the Middle East and North Africa, those who dared hope for free societies taking root in the Arab world wondered how long the spring would last. In Syria today, the Arab Spring is stalled by fratricidal violence. The brutal end of Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi at the hands of an angry mob raised concerns about what would replace the autocratic regimes of the Arab world.

The other day in Libya, protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi, killing US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. In Cairo, Egyptians protesting against what they considered an anti-Islamic movie made in the United States and promoted by US-based Egyptian Copts also attacked the US embassy. Both attacks occurred as Americans commemorated the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 in New York and Washington. The protests targeting US diplomatic missions spread to Yemen yesterday.

US destroyers and Marines have been deployed to Libya as Washington explores the possibility that al-Qaeda took advantage of mass protests to launch an attack on the anniversary of 9/11. Whether or not al-Qaeda was responsible, the attacks highlight the challenges of bringing freedom and stability to a region long controlled by autocrats. They also revive questions about what shape Islamic democracy will take, or whether it is taking shape at all.