The North African turmoil is more risky to other countries than the fall of communism in '89. These countries have large numbers of young, unemployed people who are fully plugged into social networking. Even Iran's green revolution continues today, though it's underground and not in the streets for now.

The issue for us in the West is who fills the power vacuum as these geriatric leaders fall down. All these countries have some risk of having islamic fundamentalists take over. For instance, though Saudi Arabia has funded most fundamentalist plots over the past 30 years, with training in the Western parts of Pakistan, it is the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt that has provided much of the ideology and the "smarts" behind such events as 9/11. They are considered the biggest "opposition" party in Egypt, hence some squeaky bums throughout the West as its "revolution" unfolds.

Historically, the West has supported the Maghreb tyrants, as they have kept a firm grip on things, and tended to do the West's bidding in return for national aid and personal pillow stuffing.