As Egypt marks the first anniversary of the Jan. 25 civilian revolt that eventually toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, there's no agreement – on how to celebrate or even whether rejoicing is in order.

Saudi reform advocates have staged several protests since mid-December, 2011, despite a categorical ban on protests issued last March.. In Riyadh, Buraida, and Qatif, security forces immediately arrested the protesters, who were peacefully protesting the detention without trial of hundreds of people held for long periods in intelligence prisons.

As heartening as Tunisia's successful election was for post-revolutionary democratic transition in the Arab world, the distressing signals from Egypt indicate it has veered off course from the freedom and democracy goals of Tahrir Square. The country's military rulers have become steadily more abusive, while finding excuse after excuse to delay handing over power to civilian authorities. The Obama administration, the military's principal patron, stands by the generals as it did President Hosni Mubarak, with nary a public peep about the dangerous direction in which they're taking the country.

The glass crunched under our boots as we walked through the abandoned compound of Muammar al-Qaddafi's military intelligence headquarters in Tripoli. It was late August, and the city had just fallen. Pancaked buildings destroyed by NATO airstrikes littered the grounds, and we entered one of the remaining undamaged buildings.