“Yemen has an active women’s movement independent of Western thought. What Yemen needs right now is investment in infrastructure.” -Leila Farsakh

“Even in the U.S., the Constitution did not start out protecting minorities. Yet in the 1860s, the Ottoman Empire’s constitution *did* explicitly protect minorities.” -Elizabeth Thompson

“The U.S. can remove some obstacles to democracy from the more stable communities.” -Elizabeth Thompson

“There’s a role for the international community in taking the guns away from everyone.” -Leila Farsakh

“Tunisia had a 30% unemployment rate due to government corruption, not to mention unbearable inequality.” -Leila Farsakh

“Syrians have had an *interrupted* struggle for democracy. They rose up in the hopes of retrieving something snatched by the West a century before.” -Elizabeth Thompson

“The Arab Spring is a rebuttal and a memory of a hero. The language of this movement is 100 years old.” -Elizabeth Thompson

“Regional powers are key in determining whether each government will succeed.” -Leila Farsakh

“Everyone wants to play a democratic game but they lack experience and trust.” -Leila Farsakh

“A protest of a fruit vendor turned into self-immolation, which turned into a worldwide movement.” -Elizabeth Thompson