What Role Should the U.S. Play in Middle East?

Three months after the start of the extraordinarily moving Arab people’s protests that have swept through North Africa and the Middle East, two initial conclusions are obvious. First, this is the most significant movement for reform in the modern history of the Arab world. Second, fifty years of American policy that assumed that backing authoritarian rule was the best way to achieve stability and American interests is now in question. How should the U.S. react to these events?