January 19, 2021 Special Dispatch No. 9144 Russian Journalist Bavyrin: Russian Grain Export Controls Could Trigger A New Arab Spring As They Triggered The Original Outburst In 2011 January 19, 2021 Russian journalist Dmitry Bavyrin writing in Vz.ru scoffs at both naïve Western views that the Arab Spring was triggered by a thirst for democracy but also at the pro-regime narrative that Western intelligence agencies, seeking to impose more supine regimes were behind the unrest. He claims that Russia inadvertently caused the outburst by withholding grain for export thus driving up bread prices. As Russia, recently imposed similar controls to lower prices within Russia,[1] Middle Eastern countries like Egypt that have seen their tourism industry crushed by the coronavirus are ripe for a renewed outburst. The Middle East, burdened by overpopulation and endemic food crises, will always be the planet's tinderbox.