The roar of the jubilant crowd assembled in Cairo's Tahrir Square said it all. Nearly four months ago, longtime Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak finally yielded to political reality and stepped down from power. Mubarak's fall -- coming on the heels of the ouster of neighboring Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali -- was seen by many as part of a domino effect. The Arab world, it seemed, was finally on the brink of a peaceful democratic transition that had eluded the troubled region for generations. Today, however, the promise of a peaceful Arab Spring appears to be yielding to the reality of a long, violent summer as dictators across the Middle East and North Africa draw a line in the sand and fight to maintain control of their countries.
