On December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian stallholder driven to despair by poverty, hopelessness, and police brutality, set himself on fire. He died less than one month later. Ten days after his death, demonstrations provoked by his act brought down the Tunisian government. Just under a month later, protestors overthrew the Egyptian government. The revolt spread to Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, and Libya, where in August 2011, Colonel Gaddafi’s 42-year reign came to a violent end.