In North Africa and the Middle East, rapid change is under way. Dictatorships are being challenged by the people they control and oppress. While this wave of revolution has the potential to bring about reform and improve the lives of millions, the prospect of things going wrong is just making me nervous. It is changing the face of the region, and the  outcomes could be dangerous.

This has been shown multiple times already in areas like Syria where violent protests have resulted in civilian deaths, and in Libya, where international intervention has been needed to prevent the government from slaughtering its own citizens. If the violence factor of these protests spread to areas like Yemen, Jordan, and Bahrain, then their countries would lose what little stability they still have and be faced with potential civil war. The thought of an entire section of the world turning against itself is less than comforting. If the protests become rebellions and succeed in overthrowing national dictators, then that would leave the door open for Muslim Extremists to take control. If the rebellions fail, then the dictators would resume control and take extreme measures to prevent rebellion from breaking out again. The area would suffer from either outcome.

There is another possibility to be considered, which to me seems the lesser of the evils. There is still the possibility that peaceful protesting will cause political reform to take place without bloodshed. This has so far been demonstrated in Egypt and Tunisia, where non-violent protesting has brought about reform and new, democratic governments. While this alternative to fighting and death seems much more appealing, it still has potential consequences. For example, how would these young democracies fare in the modern world? Would they be spiteful of the United States, which has in the past propped up a number of dictators in the Middle East? Or, would they not even be able to sustain themselves as a democracy and simply collapse back into a dictatorship?

With so many nations precariously balanced between achieving reform and plunging into national chaos, there is no telling what is next. The tensions are high in each nation, and the risk of things turning out badly just seems too high for the desired reward.

Nick Ponche