The popular revolution surging throughout Libya has been under a spotlight in the U.S., as allied warplanes and cruise missiles have recently begun to aid anti-government rebels in their fight to remove dictator Muammar al-Qadaffi from power. But this incredible uprising is just one of many intensifying pro-democracy, anti-autocratic movements driven by young people across the Middle East.

The revolt in Libya, the most censored country in the Middle East and North Africa according to the 2009 Freedom of the Press Index, is an illumination of the vigorously growing opposition fueled by youth who, through access to social media, have seen how the rest of the world lives and want it for themselves. They want the freedom to make their own choices and the freedom to have their own voices.

The immobilizing wall of silence was first broken in the Tunisia revolution. The popular uprising that ousted the nation’s leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was the first democratic revolt in the modern Arab world and a catalyst for the rest of the Middle East to press for reform in a region dominated by authoritative regimes. The oppressed citizens of other Arab and North African nations did indeed begin to respond — several countries are currently fighting against the corruption and nepotism they have lived with their whole lives and are realizing that political freedom and economic reform comes from democracy.

Following their neighbors in Tunisia, in January protesters in Egypt demanded the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his regime. After weeks of popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office in February. A record number of voters turned out in Egypt approving constitutional amendments to secure a free and fair democratic system.

In Yemen last week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a determined U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism, declared a state of emergency and dismissed his cabinet after government-linked forces killed more than 40 unarmed protesters. On Monday, news came about of several top army commanders and one of Yemen’s key tribal leaders having sided with the protesters.

And that’s not it. Opposition leaders in Bahrain were arrested after troops disbanded thousands of protestors that were occupying the central square of Manama. The king called for a three-month state of emergency. In Saudi Arabia, Sunni Muslims sent troops to mollify the mainly Shiite upheaval in bordering Bahrain. King Abdullah offered over $100 billion in added benefits to citizens following relentless protests in Riyadh.

Let’s take a look at Syria. Protesters set fire to a headquarters of the ruling Baath Party — a raging indication of dissent in one of the region’s most authoritarian states. And now Libyan people pouring across Tunisia’s border are being offered food and assistance from their neighbors.
It’s obvious now that Libya is but one part of a remarkable wave of revolt in the Arab world. The Arab people, mainly the youth, are no longer sitting paralyzed under oppression, restricted by religious theocracies.

The U.S. should continue supporting the dissidents in Libya and the quest for freedom in future autocratic governments. Middle Eastern dictator-run governments are finally changing — an extraordinary step in the modern Arab world. And the United States being a part of it is a tremendous thing.