BERLIN – Two years after popular uprisings began to convulse the Middle East, few people speak of an “Arab Spring” anymore. Given Syria’s bloody civil war, the rise to power of Islamist forces through free elections, the ever-deepening political and economic crises in Egypt and Tunisia, increasing instability in Iraq, uncertainty about the future of Jordan and Lebanon, and the threat of war over Iran’s nuclear program, the bright hope of a new Middle East has vanished.
柏林—震撼中东的群众暴乱爆发两年后，如今已不再有人大谈“阿拉伯之春”了。叙利亚血腥内战、伊斯兰通过自由选举上台、埃及和突尼斯不断加深的政治和经济危机、伊拉克的日渐动荡、约旦和黎巴嫩未来的不确定性以及伊朗核计划头上的战争阴影，这些因素让新中东的美好前景消失殆尽。