I recently took part on Monday in emergency meetings in Geneva to discuss the unfolding events in Libya, and I’d like to begin by offering you a brief update. We have joined the Libyan people in demanding that Colonel Qadhafi must go now, without further violence or delay.

The Middle East is once again on fire, not because of American warfare, but due to apparently genuine movements aiming to get rid of old rulers and obsolete political systems. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen have all either passed the threshold of revolution or are on the verge.

The Middle East is once again on fire, not because of American warfare, but due to apparently genuine movements aiming to get rid of old rulers and obsolete political systems. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen have all either passed the threshold of revolution or are on the verge. The dominos have fallen and it would not be imprudent to call it a day for rulers in other Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, or Jordan.

Recent events in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya have been on the minds -- and on the screens -- of people around the world. News organizations are covering the events in innovative ways, and people have noticed. More generally, the role of social media itself in protests and revolutions is also being debated

Every revolution worth the name needs a name. Once upon a century, geography sufficed—American, French, Russian, Iranian. Modern marketing seems to demand something catchier.

Facebook has been hailed as a tool of revolution that has spread across the Middle East, the means by which young Tunisians, Egyptians and others spread their message and organize their rallies. But when they are not banning the world’s favorite social network, the region’s rulers are learning to use it, too.

Freed on February 23 after being jailed for five months, the first thing the 33-year-old activist did was join protesters on the streets, even before returning home to be reunited with his young wife, 1-year-old twin daughters, and 6-year-old son.

The domino-like succession of civil unrest that has rocked repressive regimes in the Middle East has been called "the Jasmine Revolution." It might better be known as "the 140-character Rebellion," after the character limits of Twitter, which gave it voice.