The New York Times thesis

The New York Times today published this article: conveying the view of US officials that Arab presidents are in peril and that monarchies are safe.  What do I think? Too early to tell and no one knows.  The revolutionary momentum has its own dynamic and pace and calculations.  There are things that are rather interesting.  Why does Bashshar seem to be safe at this point, for example?  Was he right in his interview with the WSJ that his foreign policies set him apart from other Arab leaders/presidents?  He may be right.  If that is the case, then foreign policy is the unhighlighted impulse of the Arab protests.  It is not that Arab monarchies are safe, it is that possibly the pace of protests may vary from one section of the Arab world to another.  Plus, the people know the odds.  The US would deploy troops and would use its armed forces to repel any threat to the Saudi royal family.  People in the Arab world know that, and saw first hand how the US stood solidly behind Bahrain royal repression.