Many had hoped that this year, 2011, would be the Arab spring. Many hoped it would be the year that the Arab people came of age and one by one overthrew their oppressive rulers and moved towards a democratic society.

First there was Tunisia, then there was Egypt. Both peoples managed to overthrow the oppressive regimes which ruled their nations through people power alone. From there, things cascaded. Protests flared up in Morocco, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain and other places. Then the Libya crisis erupted and the Arab spring faltered. In attempting to crush the uprisings in Libya, Gaddafi has emboldened other regimes to take a hard line stance.

For weeks on end, people have taken to the streets. In some places, they are met by brute force and live ammunition. In other places, people simply disappear. The news today tells of an Egyptian blogger who has been put on trial in a military court for his role in criticising the interim government. By the same yardstick, deposed president Hosni Mubarak is being put through the notoriously slow civil court system for his alleged role in the treatment of protesters.

People in Bahrain are complaining about sons and husbands being carted off for questioning, never to reappear alive. The dead bodies of the missing show ample evidence of torture and brutality and those who make it out alive also tell of their harrowing experiences.

The United Arab Emirates has also begun to detain bloggers that might foment unrest. Of course, in our culture it is merely fair comment, but we must realise that for all their riches, these countries are dictatorships. Money is no substitute for freedom. Of course, there is the other end of the spectrum – places like Syria and Yemen where unemployment is rife, while the regimes are the most brutally repressive in the world.

Ministers gathered in Doha, Qatar, yesterday, to discuss the role of NATO in preventing the massacre of civilians in Libya. But it begs the question… What about Syria? What about Yemen? What about Bahrain? In these places, the regimes are committing crimes against their own people. Protesters are being shot in the streets, while others are beaten to death by security forces.

The world is most definitely in a time of great turmoil, greater turmoil than it has seen for a long time. While the aspirations of the Arab people are genuine, we must be guarded. In refusing to cede power, many authoritarian rules are setting down the perfect conditions for failed states. Libya, Yemen and others all run the risk of becoming ‘Somalia’. Places were law does not exist and warlords rule the roost are no improvement to the situations which are currently in place.