SEATTLE — When faced with problems, most authoritarian regimes maintain a policy of rigidity when the appropriate response should be flexibility, political wisdom and concessions. In this way, authoritarian leaders can control their populations to serve the interests of a few individuals and political and military elites. The policy can, however, usher in a regime's downfall, for populations can only be oppressed, controlled and punished to a point.
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, who had controlled his population with an iron fist since he arrived in the presidential palace in 1987, must have crossed that point. He was forced to flee the country amid the angry protests of thousands of Tunisians, fed up with growing unemployment, soaring inflation, government corruption, violent crackdowns and lack of political freedom. The government's subsequent crackdowns only stirred emotions further.
The upheaval in Tunisia is certainly worthy of headlines, but many reactions contain generalizations that hype expectations, worsen an already terrible situation and provoke misguided policies.