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Drawing a comparison between Gaddafis last few minutes and Saddam Husseins grisly end,Irfan Husain writes both dictators were found hiding in holes

Dawn
Dos and donts for dictators

Drawing a comparison between Gaddafis last few minutes and Saddam Husseins grisly end,Irfan Husain writes both dictators were found hiding in holes: after decades of absolute power and lives of obscene luxury,they could find no dignified exit. Gaddafi,the eccentric dictator,thought he could support terrorists from Ireland to South America,and his countrys oil wealth would protect him from reprisals8230;But instead of focussing on his own country,he continued on his mad way,culminating in the Lockerbie bombing that caused crippling sanctions on Libya and became an outcast. So what are the lessons for other dictators? Husain says,Do not alienate other leaders: you might need their support one day and always have an exit strategy.

Time
A Japanese future for the West?

As the West suffers a protracted downturn,are the US and Europe facing a Japanese future? Japan has been experiencing the Wests current woes for the past 20 years,ever since an asset bubble burst in the early 1990s, writes Michael Schuman. There are a few lessons the West can learn from Japan,he writes. First,one of Japans biggest problems is its refusal to admit the failure of its economic system. Similarly,the Europeans are attached to their welfare-state system even though it is burying them in debt. Both US and Europe also have to realise that globalisation is key to their recoverysomething that Japan hasnt acknowledged, writes Schuman.

The Guardian
Tunisia takes the lead again

Just as protests in Tunisia led the Arab spring,so its elections can show other Arab nations the way to true democracy, writes Issandar El Amrani. As millions of Tunisians lined up to vote in their countrys first free election,Amrani says the road to the polling stations has not been smooth. Even after the dictator Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia,members of his ruling party the RCD,sowed chaos. Snipers took to buildings and shot people. Economic growth plummeted,and the civil war in neighbouring Libya,where many of the poorest Tunisians work made things difficult. But the people of Tunisia soldiered on. It is nothing short of a miracle to witness a country that only a year ago had one of the most repressive police states in the region now hold its freest elections. Like Tunisia showed the way for the rest of the Arab world in January with its unlikely revolution,it again offers a symbol of hope. Egypt,whose transition is currently a mess,and Libya,where it is only beginning,should take note, he writes.

Al Jazeera
Bury Gaddafi with dignity

Referring to the unseemly pictures and videos that capture the final moments of Gaddafis death,Hamid Dabashi writes that these should be the last signs of indignity that Libyan people would ever see marking their historic revolution. Future generation of Libyans,the children of these very freedom fighters,deserve better. Treat Gaddafis body with dignity not because he deserved it. But because the Libyan people need it. According to Dabashi,giving Gaddafi a proper burial would also provide a signal to other remaining dictators in the region. They too must see a safe and sane way out of their bloody deeds and they must be given the chance to recognise the world has changedthat we are not going to repeat the vicious cycle of one brutal downfall after another. All the tyrants of the region,from Iran to Syria,from Bahrain to Yemen,must be able to see a dignified way out,without NATO intervention.