The Middle East's stagnant 'change'

[unhappycamper]

The Middle East's stagnant 'change'
By Ramzy Baroud
Nov 3, 2010

Democracy in the Middle East continues to be a hugely popular topic of discussion. Its virtues are tirelessly praised by rulers and oppositions alike, by intellectuals and ordinary people, by political prisoners and their prison guards. Yet, in actuality, it also remains an illusion, if not a front to ensure the demise of any real possibility of public participation in decision-making.

~snip~

In fact, nothing is changing - except for the insistence by some that it is. Arab governments have made two important discoveries in the past decade.

The first discovery is that US interests cannot peacefully co-exist with true democracies in the region. Egypt had a rude awaking in 2005, when Muslim Brotherhood candidates won a fifth of the votes, if not more. This was followed by the unmatched democratic revolution in Palestine when Hamas won the majority of the vote. The aftermath of both of these events was enough to remind both Arabs and the US of the folly of their so-called democracy project.

The second realization is that Arabs are not judged by the genuineness of their democracy; rather, the success of their democratic experiences is judged on the basis of how well they can serve and protect US interests. Since the democracy radar is measured by Washington, Arab countries deemed lacking in democratic reforms are often cited as promising and fledgling democracies in congressional reports or White House statements. Countries deemed hostile to US economic and political interests are remorselessly shunned, as if their experiments with democracy could never yield anything of worth or consideration.

These two realizations led to a superficial change of course, forming a new trend that Shadi Hamid, writing in Foreign Policy, refers to as "free but unfair - and rather meaningless - election".

[JCMach1]

1. 100% disagree... while governments have slowed down drives for democracy,

the environment that it takes to have an active democracy continues to grow in the region... moderate and liberal trends continue to grow over the long-term. Even if the governments of region immediately capitulated and opened up, you would end-up with democratic majorities that are xenophobic, conservative, and in some cases anti-Western (especially in the Gulf).

What most westerners fail to realize about places like the Gulf region is that in a country like the UAE, there were only some 200,000 citizens at the time of independence in 1973! 1973! These folks were largely tribal people still living in mud brick villages. It is difficult to build a country, much less democracy within one generation.

And yes, we in the West should continue to push for transparency, human rights, and democracy. However, we also need to recognize self-determination and allow countries to navigate their own path to the future.

For example, the GCC has enough wealth and forces to deal with any contingency in Yemen. The US needs to seriously take a step back and let the GCC handle their neighbor.

Democracy and western ideas are transforming even places such as Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, today's politics requires immediate gratification. Change in the region has been rapid, but at the same time, incremental.

For example, what I like to tell people, is that the UAE (socially) is about where the US was in the late 1950's. Straining for equality, enlarging democracy, and expanding human rights.

Given the young demographics in the region, the 1960's are just around the corner. Watch out for turbulence.