New threats

摘要

The pictures emerging from Egypt finally put paid to rest the arguments over the potential for democracy to sweep through the Middle East bringing stability and a downturn in the levels of terrorism in the region. Over the last six months the security situation in Iraq and Syria has palpably deteriorated. The much vaunted Arab Spring has turned out to be a very damp squib. Many parts of the Middle East are now living in an unstable political, economic and security cauldron. Any of these areas could provide the crucible from which the next terrorist attack in the United Kingdom originates. Huge political expectation ramped up by political leaders hoping for a positive outcome have been brought crashing down to earth as the fault lines in the Arab societies inevitably fractured. What is going on in Egypt is nothing less than seismic. It will have huge repercussions across the Middle East. Already in Libya, Algeria and Tunisia the activities of Al Qaeda linked groups does not bode well.