The Foreign Service Journal, May 2012

J O U R N A L OREIGN ERVICE S F P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS / 7 Time for FSOs to Stand Up for the Foreign Service By Susan R. Johnson R EFLECTIONS / 66 Skylab Descends By Peter Wolcott L ETTERS / 8 C YBERNOTES / 9 M ARKETPLACE / 10 B OOKS / 53 I N M EMORY / 56 I NDEX TO A DVERTISERS / 64 M A Y 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 C ONTENTS May 2012 Volume 89, No. 5 F O C U S O N T h e A r a b S p r i n g A N A RAB S PRING P RIMER / 13 Events in the Middle East over the past year have set in motion a realignment that could prove truly transformational. By Allen Keiswetter T HE A RAB M EDIA ’ S S HAKY A WAKENING / 19 After breathtaking expansion of their freedoms, the media now reflect the unsteady advance of democracy in the Middle East. By Robert J. McMahon W OMEN AND THE A RAB S PRING / 24 One of the chief lessons of the past year in the Middle East is that democracy is everyone’s business. By Melanne Verveer T UNISIA ’ S I DENTITY C RISIS / 27 Tunisians are attempting to reconcile the role of religion in what had been a staunchly secular society. By Victoria Taylor M ARGINAL N O L ONGER : N EW O PENINGS IN THE M AGHREB / 31 The Arab Spring has given North Africa greater saliency for U.S. policymakers, inviting more concentrated attention to that region. By William Jordan F E A T U R E U NDERSTANDING E CONOMICS : A T OP D OZEN W ONKISMS / 37 Economics doesn’t have to be a dismal science, as this tongue-in-cheek guide demonstrates. By Stephan S. Thurman Cover Photo by Mohammed Abed/ AFP/Getty Images