next protests in tunisia that ousted the country's former president have inspired demonstrations elsewhere in the region today host asked his gas what could happen to the arab world if the unrest continues crosstalk coming your way next. if you can. follow in welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle shifting sands in the greater middle east events in tunisia have inspired similar demonstrations elsewhere in the region often at the risk of violent crackdowns is there now hope for more homegrown democracy in the arab world. and you can. discuss democracy in the greater middle east i'm joined by stephen zooms in san jose he's a professor of politics and international studies at the university of san francisco in london we have the below ramdani she is a journalist an academic who specializes in the middle east and north africa and in philadelphia we go to daniel pipes he is an author and director of the middle east forum and another member of our crosstalk team on the hunger all right cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want i to go to you stephen first events are

enjoy talking about tunisia more than on states but to answer your question. i saw the obama statement last week congratulating me on the street as ambiguous that it's not indication that we're going to support others so for example of egypt it's not a rejection of what's happened it's saying that we need more time to figure out what we're doing here and so far as i can tell there has been no formulation of policy no figuring out what we do in tunisia nor in the in the in the wider middle east so i think this is very much in flux but a lot has to do i think with how things turn out in tunisia if there is a smooth transition to i'm sorry i'm going to have to jump in here folks we've run out of time here hopefully the events in it tunisia will bring about a better life for them and maybe others in the greater middle east many thanks to my guest today in philadelphia london and in san jose and thanks to our viewers for watching us here darkie see you next time and remember a profitable. wealthy british style it's time to rise. for the. markets why not scandals. f

tunisia has not been able to reach people across the country. the people feel the wall of silence is broken and they aren't willing to resurrect that. >> i also spoke to chin, a 24-year-old who is under president ben ali. >> we should actually free for the first time. i say actually free for the first time in 23 years. >> it come at a cost though, many people have died for this. >> yes. yes. many people died for this. we did this actually -- we did this for them. a lot of them died because -- because a lot of them -- i mean, very awful things to them. did very awful things to tunisian people, to people that they were supposed to -- to be -- >> what is happening right now? >> i'm aware there is a curfew but are you aware of any activities on the streets at the moment? >> there are some looters trying to make this huge event something bad. but army is trying to control things, trying to get things better and trying to get things right. they are heading to that. things are -- are now -- i mean very calm now. it is -- it is going the right direction

the-focused on tunisia. it was so much in the news -- focus on tunisia. what role does it play on that -- in that part of the world's? guest: many people go back and forth from tunisia and europe. it is an american ally. it has been an important ally in the war on terror. the president was a friend to america. there were reports that he helped with renditions and interrogations' in that part of the world. tunisia has been important to u.s. interests. it is not as important as egypt or jordan. they have always taken a step back. the president being removed from power certainly is not necessarily being welcomed among the intelligence community. from a u.s. standpoint, who replaces him will be interesting to see. whether it remains authoritarian or turns democrat, it will be interesting to see how the process plays out. host: one of the changes is more religious freedom. what do the people of tunisia have and why did it change? guest: tunisia is hysterically a secular country. in 1956, a policy of states secularism was put in place. they were hostile to isla

what happened in tunisia, maybe happening in egypt as you're seeing a social movement came to tunisia which is a different kind of organization, a funded political organization. in the case of tunisia you had this coupling of social and political demands which came later. that's something the regime's going to have a harder time. and one can overly stress the point is the role of social media and how that's one way to get around the lack of organized institutions. again i think we're going to have to wait and see and look back to what happened in tunisia and recently in egypt to say to what extent facebook and twitter played a role. this is one way you can circumvent the traditional ways regimes have held their popular unrest in check. >> charlie: what's the most likely place for this kind of uprising to happen. what would be the next venue? >> the protests are happening everywhere right now. and so if you began from the streets, you could look at every place from algeria where there has been protests for quite a while. yemeni protests and jordan and of course lebanon is its own story

we saw it happen in tunisia. we continue to see tunisians demonstrate and say no until we get rid of the regime. >> brown: where is the discontent coming from? we hear about food prices. we hear about a lack of civil freedoms. in the past we've often focused on islamists dissent. what's happening here? >> you know, clearly this is not about islamist dissent. there is islamist dissent in tunisia. it has cracked down on islamists more than in any countries. it's a traditional manifestation of islamism. in my own judgment over the past decade many of the empowerment of political islam has been for other issues. people are dissatisfied with the existing order. they want to mobilize. they want to oppose. whether it's about jobs or repression or the economy or foreign policy or identity, all of the above, the real issue is not whether people have reason to want to revolt. we've seen the gap. we've been falling for a long time. the huge gap between what the public wants in the middle east and the golfs on domestic polit

also tonight, turmoil in tunisia. riots and looting break out on the streets after the country's longtime leader is forced to flee the country. and the movement and the meetia. on martin luther king's birthday, new insights into how the civil rights movement harnessed the power of mass media. >> if you're going to beat us, beat us in the light of day. beat us when the camera's on. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" >> good evening. exactly one week after the shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded, tucson is showing signs of returning to normal today. heeshz the latest-- doctors say congresswoman gabrielle giffords no longer needs a ventilator. a shooting victim was arrested today and charged with making threats of his own. and at least five house members around the country held "congress on your corner" constituent meetings. john blackstone is in tucson tonight with more. good evening, john. >> reporter: good evening, michelle. today, doctors removed a breathing tube from congresswom

that is not the case in tunisia. it was backed by the police and intelligence services. >> do you see a contradiction in u.s. policy? they have been supporting president mubarak's long autocratic rule, but today they are allowing freedom for egyptians. >> i don't. i think they should go farther than that. it is not enough to -- debate can be possible in egypt, but egypt needs to open up its political system and adopt economic policies that meet the needs of its people. >> a report by the cbo estimates the u.s. budget deficit is set to hit a record breaking $1.5 trillion this year. this is nearly 40% above earlier predictions. president obama acknowledged the urgent need to reduce the deficit in his state of the union address. our colleague in new york says many americans are waking up to the country's deficit problems. >> many americans realize what a problem the budget deficit is here, but the latest figures are worrying. the cbo expects this year's budget deficit will hit $1.5 trillion. the gap between what the gov

this is a man who had an iron grip in tunisia. zine al-abidine ben ali came to power many years ago against a man who defeated him and who was ruled unfit to rule. since then, the president has want multiple elections with enormous majorities. under his rule, tunisia was relatively prosperous. but there was heavy criticism of the descent and lack of media freedom. it was deemed authoritarian and not democratic. tunisia came in the top 25 in the economist democracy index of 2010. and lead to you as cable's described corruption and abuse of power. it was not just his leadership that came under fire, it was his life style too. they talked about the extravagance of his family and the excess fuelling hatred among ordinary people. now it seems that anger has seen an end to two decades of his power. >> we spoke to the former ambassador to the un. he gave this view. >> after three years of normal rule and open policies for the people panties' the elite of the country, -- for the people and the elite of the country. [unintelligible] as far

>> -- into mischa - in tunisia? >> wow we have observed in the last couple of weeks, we have similar acts, like in syria and egypt, but we have to look at each country with its proper conditions. >> do you think the new tunisian government is really willing and able to introduce the kind of democratic reforms that the people are demanding? >> i think for the time bei, the is not real alternatives. there is the revolution, which showed the political -- to have democratic principles implemented, i see even in the creation of the noun national unity government that people are willing to do so. >> what obstacles d.c. in the way of a peaceful period of change? -- what obstacles do you say? >> the new national unit government has toave lot reforms. for example, it has to prepare for the elections. it has to establish an independent electoral commission. this is one obstacle. the second obstacle is the government includes also some technocrats and experts from the former government. i think this is an important step, becau

for instance, the flag of tunisia was very much different present. the national anthem sung all the time by the demonstrators and there was a sense for a desire for a second liberation. as you know, tunisia was occupied by the french and gained its independence in 1966. this is for a second liberation. it's really a new moment where tunisians recover their independence from a dictatorship. >> i would go even further than that, charlie, because i think that people have been unable to participate in the democratic process even from the times of the french occupation that in fact the regime of the ex-president and ben ali who follows him were in a way a continuation of this deprivation from participating, from developing a civil society. there was such an incredible vacuum of power even to the point where a lot of people were very concerned about what the is going to happen there. all of these parties have been either exiled, leaders have been put in prisons and so whatever mechanism of opposition to the government that could actually emerge now to crea

the shock with tunisia sent across the arab world. the movement that grew into a revolution in tunisia began far from the capital. it was born and not just of policy but of anger at rulers to treat their own people with contempt. that is anger you can feel here. on the streets of the capital, they are chanting they want lower prices, more jobs and the resignation of the prime minister. they know that the people of the street have power. there is something that tunisia's example has inspired them. many of the grievances are long standing, but it is only now they can give voice to them. >> we are very proud of what we have done in this country. because we want to feel we are free. we want to take everything for the people. >> corruption, people cannot live anymore. they need to stop these things. we need to be one family, all of the world. we are stopping the corruption. >> they don't just want change in their own country. president mubarak, you our next, they are shouting. will 2011 see democracy break out across the arab world? a scor

. >> there will be a lot of allies on what is happening in tunisia. neighbors are very close by but there has been very little public comment from other arab governments. speaking a short while to our correspondent. he said what has happened in tunisia is unprecedented in the arab world. >> they don't do revolutions in the arab world. this is so much uncharted territory. that may not necessarily be signals that it will spread through the region. i think the government in egypt and morocco and algeria will be looking nervously at this. and wondering to what extent those frustrations expressed so angrily parboiling beneath the surface. to what extent they are a danger to their own futures. but they have to work out how they can put together a credible government. i think the people will be watching closely to see whether these people who are still associated with the old regime are going to bring in their opponents. are they going to allow real freedom of speech on the state media? 80 people will trust they are in for a better future. >> we have been he

many share tunisia's frustration with corruption, high prices and authoritarian rule, tunisia's ousted president seemed to be taken aback. the former first lady leil leila trabelsi has long been unpopular because of her lavish spending, often called mafia, own stakes in tunisia's biggest companies. there are reports trabelsi stole from the central bank before leaving with her husband. the bank has denied it. arab governments, brian, are scrambling to prevent this from spreading. egypt is hosting an economic summit now focused on lowering prices, jordan and syria both backed away from plans to cut subsidies. and oil-rich kuwait announced it is giving every single citizen the equivalent of about $3,500. >> richard engel on the ground reporting that story for us, thanks. >>> there was a bloody scene this morning in saddam hussein's hometown tikrit. a suicide bomber attacked a crowd of iraqi men lining up outside a police recruiting center hoping to get jobs. an estimated 60 people were killed, another 100 injured. >>> chinese president hu jintao is in washington tonight for a state visit

people you know if they stay with the devil you know what kay and that's exactly what they did with tunisia and then they turn around and their entire democracy project blows up on them in lebanon though it's again against the will of the people there clearly i don't care what people think about hezbollah it is a popular. political party in the country it's up for the people to decide and not again hillary clinton dictating what kind of democracy should people should have because everything the united states has done in that region last forty years is just create extremism. yeah you look i think you're identifying some good points i'm not sure if i agree with the way that you're portraying i mean there's no question you know that the united states hasn't lived up to this great espousal of always being for democracy you know the reality for any country whether it's today or historically you know has had a balance off the principles you stand for the security interests that you have in the light you know and what we've been seeing i think is as as as your previous guest was saying was part of

for more on tunisia, we turn to mary-jane deeb. she's chief of the african and middle east division at the library of congress, but the views she expresses are her own. >> mary-jane deeb, thank you for beingith us. this seems to unfollowe unfollowed-- unfolded so quickly. what has brought it to this place? >> i think it's an explosion. it's an explosion of frustration of anger and the fact that things are happening throughout the region. i mean the last year's events in iran, the young people going out there, in cairo, in egypt, the cops with the muslims going out and protesting. elections that are fake and anger, you see the rise there. in other words, what happened with one man burning himself was really the-- . >> woodruff: in tunisia do you think the protestor will be satisfied with this caretaker president who was the prime minister? >> well, it depends. mohammed ghannouchi is a politician that's respected by most of the people in tunisia. and the important thing is whether he is going to go for elections rapidly, whether ther

sent many were god democracy truth lawfulness and direct elections still the latest events in tunisia make us wonder if west's so-called democracy industry does really promote that is or its own interests. right jeff and i to go to you one of the things that happened when one of the reasons why ben ali was such a big friend of the americans in the west in general and any and we can look at what's going on in egypt and other countries in the region is because they are stanch allies on the war against terror ok and that's always top of mind here and in the the nonsense that spewed out about two years terror and that's terror in the you know just terrifying publics and western media and it does it all of the time and they're these people are you know they may not be you know thomas jeffersons but you know they are going to be on our side isn't this really being shown is that complete exaggeration now because these tyrants created a fundamentalist group of people that may be inclined to terrorism and things like that i mean the lack of supporting our own ideals and values have actually cr

." >> a full from power, tunisia's president leaves after the worst violence in decades. the president promises widespread reform and democratic elections. president obama praises the tunisian people, but encourages to avoid violence. exploiting the oil and gas reserves, bp closed as a massive deal with russian energy giant. the rain hampers rescue efforts. hello and welcome. the active president has arrived in saudi arabia. this follows the worst violence in decades. dozens of people have died in recent weeks. this goes with food price rises and corruption. the people have been offered a democratic elections. in the last few hours, more violence has been reported. >> despite those brutal measures to suppress demonstrations, young people decided that today was the chance to overthrow a corrupt government. after weeks of sickening violence by police, the protest reaches a crescendo. the day had started with a peaceful demonstration at the ministry of the interior building. they promised concessions allowing greater freedom of speech. they demanded that he leave. >> we shou

one man said the people have been liberated. >> tunisia can sort itself out. the police are with us. the army are with us. we are free. we can do anything we want. >> tunisia's prime minister says he will retire from public life after the planned elections. it is unclear at this stage when those will take place. "bbc news." >> returned to give evidence for the second time to give evidence. during his testimony, the former british prime minister said he regretted and profoundly the loss of life during and after the invasion of iraq. this report contains flash photography. >> there was no slipping through a side door as last time. tony blair walked through the main entrance. it was two hours before the hearing started, and there were barely a dozen protestors there. he took his place at the witness table. he listened as they explained what the inquiry wanted to clarify. foremost among them, the private letters that mr. blair sent to president george bush in the year leading up to the war. what exactly he had committed to. >> what i was saying to president bush i

that was not the case in tunisia. a police state. he was backed by the police and the intelligence services. >> do you see a contradiction in u.s. policy? you know, they have been supporting president mubarak, and yet today, they are talking about allowing freedom for egyptians. >> i think they should go farther than that. debate can be possible. to a certain extent. but egypt really needs to open up its political system and adopt policies that meet the needs of its people. >> the interim government of tunisian has issued an arrest warrant for the ousted president and his wife, who fled to saudi arabia after the popular uprising 12 days ago. zine al-abidine ben ali and his wife are accused of abusing power to enrich themselves and taking money abroad. we have this report. >> tunisia's deposed president in happier times. he left his country almost two weeks ago amid a popular uprising. now, they're calling on the international community to help bring him and his entourage back to face justice. >> everyone who has escaped the country h

tunisia is still reeling from the turmoil. they have cleared away the good sense -- goods. the damage repair bill is vast, but the country is trying to roll up its sleeves and move on. the manager says he is hiring extra staff so he can open tomorrow. messages have been buzzing around, urging people not to stay home but to go to work and make it look as if to visa is getting back to normal. -- as if to nietzsche -- tunisia is getting back to normal. >> our job is to provide them with food. >> symbols of the past have been crashing down. the home of the family of the former president have been looted. anything not nailed down has been taken away. this afternoon the prime minister announced his interim government. it will include opposition and now and figures outside conventional politics. he also said as political prisoners will be freed during your -- will be freed. the two nations and -- tunisians have not lost their appetite for change. they are hurling insults of the old regime. good the police watched at first seemed to commend -- for get the new commitment to allow gr

>> -- into mischa -- in tunisia? >> wow we have observed in the last couple of weeks, we have similar acts, like in syria and egypt, but we have to look at each country with its proper conditions. >> do you think the new tunisian government is really willing and able to introduce the kind of democratic reforms that the people are demanding? >> i think for the time being, there is not real alternatives. there is the revolution, which showed the political -- to have democratic principles implemented, i see even in the creation of the noun national unity government that people are willing to do so. >> what obstacles d.c. in the way of a peaceful period of change? -- what obstacles do you say? >> the new national unity government has to have a lot of reforms. for example, it has to prepare for the elections. it has to establish an independent electoral commission. this is one obstacle. the second obstacle is the government includes also some technocrats and experts from the former government. i think this is an important

tunisia has unleashed a political tsunami. reverberations are still being felt across the arab world. >> that is the background. let's take you back to the events today. our correspondent spentç his dy among protests in cairo. >> i am looking at the demonstrations -- they are just over the horihon from may. you can hear the crack as they let off the tear-gas grenades. for awhile back there i thought i was beginning to hear live fire. we hear the army is out on the streets. not quite sure what numbers, but they are protecting the egyptian museum where great artifacts are kept. but at the moment there is no sign the governmentç is any closer to getting control -- any closer to regaining control. >> presumably the attitude of the army will be crucial, isn't >> the army is going to pick up where the police left off. will they start opening fire or are they trying to restore some sort of order for the new government? we are getting close to thinking about that. >> just a recap for you, egypt has seen a day of unprecedented prot

democratic transition in tunisia so it's more likely in a positive sense we're going to see the european union and its institutions try to shore up. with the tunisians are calling their democratic jasmine revolution that's probably that's more likely in the near term to be the relationship between europe and that would likely be more likely to be a positive one for the moment precisely because europe doesn't want to see a fall apart. and boatloads of desperate people across the mediterranean who or striving to. achieve it there as their final destination france well from paris we appreciate your comments your insight into this dr steven ek of each associate professor of political science and history and i thank you from the american university in paris your work. it's been a long time coming but funnily a key nuclear reduction treaty between russia and the us has been fully approved by both sides present to me team even if signed the ratification document on friday the last step in a lengthy process and i'll teach you go to has this report. only a form of formal exchange of documents bet

tunisia has unleashed a political tsunami. its reverberations are still being felt right across the arab world. >> the latest headlines on "bbc world news." president mubarak has gone on television to announce his government to step down, but he is staying despite protests against his leadership. the headquarters in cairo were set on fire and troops are moving back onto the streets to enforce a curfew. we will return to that momentous day in egypt a little later. let's bring you up-to-date on the other international news. eight people have been killed in a suicide attack in kabul. an explosion demonstrated a supermarket mainly used by foreigners. the taliban said they carried out the attack. [crying] >> the taliban knew they would find foreigners here. the supermarket is right in the heart of kabul's embassy district. afghans died here, too, including a child. it is believe this is the work of a suicide bomber. armed guards tried to stop him from getting inside. >> we heard shots first. then we started running. there was a big

political violence and the ride has spread from tunisia to egypt where tens of thousands have defied curfews to clash with police what is sound and the implications not just for the region but we represent well. the comparison is already being made between them dressed in the arab world and become evolutions in post soviet countries over the past decade we find out why. on russia's state duma considers a new terrorist alert system after the so sad loss of moscow's demanded a battle in which thirty five people died. you can sleep with bush the americans have done their bit we also have finished these procedures the historic new strategic arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington is becoming as real as ever after the russian president signs gratification documents. and welcome this is all see coming to a line from moscow and volatile main story now tens of thousands of egyptians continue to clash with security forces in defiance of a national kind of heat. at least eighteen people have died during the days of the nationwide protests bill so issues have come to internet access

we've seen it happen in tunisia. things are happening in yemen, lebanon. all throughout the middle east. and i think we're going to see it one country after another. you can only repress a nation for so long before the people stand up and say, we will not take this any longer. 30 year. >> office? >> tunisia so far and now, gypt. >> -- egypt. >> you have yemen also. >> tell me about yemen. >> yemen, he has been in power for 20 years. he's a dictator. but he is an ally in the war on terror. >> do we have troops in yemen? >> special troops in and out of the. >> what about across the water. >> somalia? you got them too. but what about hezbollah? anybody who thinks this is going to be a democratic revolution, doesn't understand the forces there. there are too many in egypt. the army has the hard power and the muslim brother has the soft power. muslim brotherhood won 60% of the contested seats. >> where is the sixth fleet? >> in the mediterranean where it has always been. >> where is jabutte -- jabuttei. >> where is it in realization to -- relation to yemen? >>