ALL THAT WAS ‘NORMAL ’ HAS NOW EVAPORATED; WE HAVE ENTERED POSTNORMAL times, the in between period where old orthodoxies are dying, new ones have not yet emerged, and nothing really makes sense. The road to a new normality begins with all the complexity and contradictions of our messy reality. Accountability begins with taking responsibility for what we know and cherish, which comes wrapped in all the diversity of our cultures, histories and beliefs. What we have to add to this is an ethical clarity, a state of mind which acknowledges we are all beset by ignorance and none of us, no one tradition or outlook, has all the right answers… The most important ingredients for coping with postnormal times, I would argue, are imagination and creativity. Why? Because we have no other way of dealing with complexity, contradictions and chaos. (Sardar 2010) Mohamed Bouazizi, The Butterfly of Sidi Bouzid When the 26-year old Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in the town of Sidi Bouzid, his suicide became a catalyst for an epic and largely unexpected transformation. Mohamed Bouazizi was not a world leader, a rebel leader, a military leader, or a political activist. He was not a powerful man in the traditional sense. He did not assassinate a world 30 JANUARY-MARCH 2013 Creativity and the Arab Spring Men and women engaged in reshaping the Middle East should look beyond the ready-made images of existing political formations A LFONSO MONTUORI