On December 17th, 2010, just as we were sending this large package of material to President Obama for his approval, a Tunisian fruit vendor lit himself on fire. Mohamed Bouazizi’s desperate act of protest against corruption and humiliation set in motion a cascade of revolts that would reorder huge swaths of the Arab world. These uprisings would end up impacting the course of Obama’s presidency more than any other geopolitical development during his eight years in office. The revolution had begun.
What a terribly sad moment. This death of despair haunts me to this day.
