Winds of change have been blowing across much of the Arab world. People have burst out in anger after years of oppressive rule under the label of democracy. There are charges of massive corruption and poverty. They want to overthrow the corrupt rulers and assert their rights as free citizens. First it was Tunisia. The fire that was simmering for a long time turned into a conflagration with the spark provided by a poor street vendor who could not endure it anymore and killed himself in desperation. President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali resigned in the face of charges of massive corruption, and fled the country.

The scene shifted to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the very heart of the Arab world. Huge crowds filled the city's famous Tahrir Square demanding resignation of president Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak first tried to appease the people by announcing a number of concessions, but later, sensing the mood of the people, he relented and quit after handing over power to the vice president, Omar Suleiman. Much to his disappointment his erstwhile mentors, the United States, too advised him to go. The Army has taken over initially for six months. Parliament has been dissolved and the constitution suspended.

Another big question is: how would the United States react to any real change in Egypt? The stakes are very high for the US. Egypt is not only the most populous Arab country but it has also played a pivotal role in the US strategy in the region in the past three decades. The Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty of 1979 is the corner stone of the US foreign policy in the Middle East. Any radical change in Egypt can bring down the entire bulwark the US built on the 1978 Camp David talks and the Oslo Accord on which rest all the hopes of the US- brokered reconciliation talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Developments in Egypt can, therefore, have manifold repercussions not just for the US and Israel but for the entire western world.

President Barack Obama's first reaction after Hosni Mubarak's resignation bespeaks of his keenness to keep Egypt in the US camp. He said US would continue to be "friend and partner of Egypt" and would stand ready to provide whatever assistance is needed to build up democratic institutions in that country.

Meanwhile, the fire is spreading to more countries of the region. There have been demonstrations in Algeria, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Jordan. King Abdullah of Jordan has tried to pre-empt any problem for him by appointing a new cabinet giving representation to Islamists also. But it is too early to say whether that can ward off the trouble. The masses in much of the Arab world are unhappy with the governance in those countries.

A common thread running in the entire Arab world is anger against the US for its one sided unjust and unrestrained support to Israel on the Palestinian issue.

President Barack Obama had talked of "a new beginning" between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based "on mutual interest and mutual respect" in his land-mark speech in Cairo in June 2009. It is high time the US changes its policy in the Middle East and makes the promised new beginning, based on justice and even handed policies in the Middle East.

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