| The bombing of Libya by some of the world's major powers, including France, the United States and Britain brought a new dimension to the protests that have washed over North Africa and the Middle East in the past months. Following the UN Security Council passing the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libyan air-space, a move supported by Nigeria, South Africa and Gabon, air and sea strikes pounded Muammar Gadhafi's strongholds. The AU called for an immediate stop to hostilities on both sides.
Up to this point, events in Tunisia and Egypt had sent a clear signal to African leaders. Listen to the voice of the people and focus more attention on the core issues of discontent. The bread and butter issues that emerged are an end to dictatorship and corruption, rocketing food prices, unemployment and the right to self-determination. Irrespective of who emerges as new leaders in the regime changes taking place in this region, these issues are going to have to be addressed. Future and current leaders are now being made accutely aware of what the people want. They will need to advocate basic structural changes in economic and social policies, with an aim to improving the standard of living of all, not just the elite few.
In this context, the advent of globalization puts the people of the continent in a very similar boat. Globalization and the advancement of Internet and social media help to connect people in North Africa with the world, which often allows them to observe the better quality of life in many Western countries as well as some emerging developing countries. This especially applies to the youth and it further sparks frustration. Leaders need to be aware of these trends.
A look at the population demographics in the Middle East and North Africa shows that more than 50 percent of this region's citizens are below the age of 25. This group rarely has a voice and even more rarely in this part of the world have jobs or opportunities. When youth have nothing but time on their hands they look for the cause of their predicament and the frustration is bound to boil over in what have been unjust and closed societies.
A big lesson for Africa is that the very reason for these protests is because the regime leaders, who were opposed, had always assumed the state of affairs would never change. They had thought that the people, and more especially the youth, would remain an acquiescent group. This is why they were caught unawares.
While the situation in Libya was sparked from the same root causes as the other protests, there are also other massive implications for Africa. Libya's neighbors are Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Tunisia, Algeria, and Niger, all of which have long standing relationships with the country that is now in turmoil. Ethnic links even stretch as far as Mali and Mauritania. The danger here of civil war in Libya and a possibility of the country being split has far-reaching effects that may result in cross-border fighting as has been seen in other parts of Africa, most notably Darfour in Sudan.
Besides the political inference that arises if peace does not return to Libya, is the role that the country plays in the financial support it provides to African countries like Niger, Chad, the Central African Republic.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is accutely aware of this, when he said: "Having states in the region begin to break up because of internal differences, I think, is a formula for real instability in the future."
People fleeing Libya number more than 1 million according to the UN and people inside the country need desperate humanitarian aid. The fall-out of this on Libya's neighbors is yet to be felt, but the impact on often already weak North African infrastructure is obvious.
Events in Egypt and Tunisia have changed politics in Africa, and the outcome in Libya will deepen the impact of this change even more powerfully.
People across Africa are now vocally seeking to hold their governments to account, and saying no is no longer a myth. wThis can only be good for the future of the continent and the globe.
The Editor | 
