ANALYSIS: 'The Stakes Are High' for US Following Riots in Libya, Egypt

Happening Now discussed yesterday's events in Libya and Egypt with Robin Wright, distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center and also the editor of a new book, "Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are." Wright has also known US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens for 25 years.

Stevens and three other Americans were killed

at the US Consulate during riots in Benghazi, Libya, coinciding with the 11th anniversary of 9/11. The protesters were angered over an anti-Islam film made in the US.

"He was such a caring diplomat," Wright said about Stephens.

"He knew the streets as well as the elite. He spoke the language, he understood the culture. He also appreciated the extraordinary transition across the Middle East and what was involved in trying to help stabilize it and change relations that had been hostile, in the case of Libya, for 40 years."

She also laid out what the United States faces in dealing with the instability in Libya and extremist forces in Egypt. She described yesterday's protests as a "hauntingly eerie" reminder of the 1979 attack on the US Embassy in Iran.