It all began with the ouster of longtime Tunisian strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and it continued to gain momentum when former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was sent packing.

But then, it all seemed to peter out. It is now August and in the blazing heat of Libya, Syria and Yemen, people are continuing to demand change. In an interview published on this newspaper on Monday, PL foreign affairs spokesman George Vella made a very interesting observation. He said that while the west was busy predicting a clash of civilizations, the pro-democracy movements around the world have brought about a coming together of civilizations.

Dr Vella reasoned that it was the discovery and gradual acceptance of Western ways, of democracy, that allowed people in North Africa and Arabia to begin to dream. He also says that one cannot export and implant democracy in other nations that sometimes have vastly different culture and reasoning to Europe.

In fact, if one looks at Dr Vella’s theory, this is exactly what happened in Iraq. While things are not perfect in Tunisia or Egypt, one can see that people power alone managed to bring about the downfalls of regimes.

The UK and the US entered Iraq in 2003 and the progress they registered through armed intervention cannot at all, be compared to what ordinary Tunisians and Egyptians achieved in peaceful protest.

But, it does not always work out like a fairy tale. It is clear that Libya is now bogged down in civil war, while Yemen is in a state of chaos as warlords and terrorists are in the ascendant.

While we also heard murmurings of discontent in Algeria and Morocco, nothing ever seems to materialise, and this could be down to the intimidation of other regimes. Ordinary citizens with aspirations may look to news footage of the atrocities in Libya and Syria and think twice. The Al Assad regime has now taken brutality to a whole new level, shelling densely populated Syrian cities that dare challenge his iron grip.

It is no coincidence that the regime is targeting Hama, a city that was razed to the ground in an uprising in the 1980s. Some say 10,000 died, others say 75,000. Syria is again shelling and bombing this city to quell dissent. It is on the resolve of these people that the Arab Spring depends. If they stay strong, focused, determined and united, they can inspire others to overthrow corrupt, brutal and murderous regimes.