Will Libya Inspire the Rest of the Arabs to Finish the Job?

Marc Lynch on Libya’s potential “demonstration effect”:

Now, as Syrians march chanting “Qaddafi is gone, now it’s your turn, Bashar!” and excited protestors in Yemen’s Change Square shout “our turn tomorrow!” there’s suddenly a chance to recapture some of that lost regional momentum. It has been a long time since there has been such a unified Arab public sphere, or such hope that the long summer’s stalemate might be broken and the momentum of January and February reclaimed. As one put it, “the fight isn’t over in Yemen & Syria; Libyan friends remind us when we think its over we’re closer to victory than we think.”

Morale is very important in revolutions. With violent and intransigent dictators like Assad and Saleh, the Syrians and Yemeni were likely to lose hope, get tired and forget why they’re demonstrating. But events like the fall of Gaddafi can powerfully reconnect them with their original fervor and get them to focus again on the end game.