Pro-democracy demonstrations spread across the Mideast on Monday, a sign that the protests that overturned long-standing, autocratic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt are likely a prelude to a continuing series of events in coming weeks and months rather than isolated incidents. Clashes between protesters and police in Iran, Bahrain and Yemen pitted the forces of old-line autocrats against the highly organized young adults who use social service networks like Facebook and Twitter to manage campaigns of protest. There were no clear-cut winners in the confrontations. That will come later.
The public protests and confrontations do signal, however, the willingness of protesters to publicly denounce authoritarian rule and to demand a voice in government. Monday's events are an almost seamless extension of the campaigns that forced both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali from office. The targets have shifted, but the long-term goal of the youth-led movement is the same -- democracy in nations where heavy-handed rulers have prevailed for decades.
Monday's events were well organized and coordinated by leaders who likely were in contact with protest leaders in Egypt, in Tunisia and in other countries. Indeed, the sophistication of the protest leaders seems to have caught the officials and police forces across the Mideast by surprise.
They've been unable to shut down the growing electronic and social networks that connect groups in one country with another. The flow of information gives an advantage to protesters, who can move and act far more nimbly and decisively than government troops and officials who have mostly failed to adapt to new modes of communication. The result of that failure was evident Monday.
In Tehran, thousands of people participated in a street march, the first demonstration of its kind since December 2009, when government forces killed eight people. There were some clashes between police and demonstrators Monday, but many of the latter still were able to make their demand for open government known. They pledged to return again and again until their demands are met.
In Bahrain, riot police attacked non-violent protesters who endured a hail of rubber bullets, concussion grenades and tear gas. They continued the march, though, and aired their demands for a new constitution and an end to corruption and political arrests. The day ended with a proclamation from activists saying that "Feb. 14 is only the beginning ... the rallies may continue for days and weeks." That's both a warning for the current government and a call for freedom-loving individuals to join their cause.
In Yemen, a confrontation between pro-government supporters and pro-democracy activists turned violent. Riot police tried to separate the groups but with little apparent success. There, too, the protesters stood their ground, and pledged to return again and again until a democratic government was established.
Monday's events and the growing rumblings of discontent in other Arab countries - Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, for example - strongly suggest that the old ways of governing are no longer acceptable. A highly organized, well-educated, technologically sophisticated generation of young men and women is determined to bring democracy to lands and people long denied it. If events of the past couple of weeks are any indication, their non-violent revolution could bring historic and gratifying change to the region in the weeks and months to come.