A year after the Arab Spring came to symbolize the ascent of people's power, hope has given way to a bleak sequel.
The democratic awakening has fallen prey to murky geopolitics that has cleaved the Arab Spring into two parts, with the oil monarchies escaping change but the other republics coming under varying degrees of pressure.
The promise of a new era of democracy indeed has been blighted in much of the region by the continuing political repression. Worse, war clouds have emerged on the horizon.