Why Arab turmoil could mean an orgy of bloodletting and rocketing oil prices

Even by the repressive standards of Middle Eastern autocrats, Colonel Gaddafi has long cut a brutally capricious figure. But while nobody who remembers the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher or the appalling slaughter at Lockerbie will mourn Gaddafi’s downfall, this year’s tumultuous events in North Africa could mark a shocking and seismic shift in the balance of power. We are at a hinge moment in world history. As the Arab revolutions have shown, the old certainties are cracking apart. People power: Libyans shout anti-Gaddafi slogans during demonstrations in the town of Derna yesterday. But while many look forward to the...