TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

One Al Qaeda supporter says funding they enjoyed from Arab states is now going toward Arab Spring movements:

New recruits have stopped coming, Hanif says. “When new people came they brought new blood, enthusiasm, and money. All that has been lost.” The money may be a bigger problem than the manpower, he says. Al Qaeda used to receive millions of dollars a year from Arabian Gulf contributors, but Hanif’s uncle says his contacts tell him the donations have dried up. Instead, he believes, the money is going to the more productive and generally nonviolent Arab Spring movements in North Africa, Syria, and Yemen. “I think Arab people now think the fight should be political at home and not terrorism aimed at the West,” says the uncle. “The peaceful struggle on Arab streets has accomplished more than bin Laden and Zawahiri ever have.”

If so, that’s a huge shift in the Arab world. Before, after living under dictatorship for decades, Arabs were largely cynical and did not believe they could change their political system at home. That’s changed, and regardless of whether each country ends up a liberal democracy, channeling their frustration and energy into political discussion and reform is much, much more productive. Having a discussion about what kind of government they want, and what role religion plays in it, is an incredible step forward.

Of course, the Arab world is entering a period of instability. A better outcome is not guaranteed when regimes controlled societies for decades and weakened or destroyed political processes and culture in the process are suddenly gone. But peoples which suffered under dictatorship with no hope for a better future now do have that hope, and there’s no reason to have mixed feelings when that’s the case.

(Via Chris Martucci.)