Faced with popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Western politicians are having trouble ridding themselves of their black-and-white view of the Arab-Islamic world. Michael Lüders sends us this analysis
A regime change is long overdue in Egypt, but, as Michael Lüders writes: “Will it be possible to overcome the predominant mentality of clan ties and nepotism – a mentality to be found at every turn, at both the top and the bottom of the hierarchy?”
Tunisia and Egypt are at a turning point in their respective histories. The era of the Arab despots, of old men and their clans, is coming to an end. It is an awakening that can certainly be compared with the events in Germany that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
This alone is reason enough to rejoice, even though the outcome of this experiment is still completely unknown. Will events lead to democracy or to a new form of bondage under different conditions? No one today can say where Egypt will be in a month, let alone in six months’ time. The protesters message, however, is unequivocal: “We are the people”.
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As a rule of thumb in all Islamic states, the relative strength of Islamist groups is more an expression of dissatisfaction with the prevailing situation than the expression of religious Muslims’ desire for a theocracy. As soon as there are political alternatives, the Islamists become only one grouping among many. In order to avoid being politically marginalised, they then have to make an effort to recruit followers and can no longer rely on religious slogans.
To over-simplify slightly, where Islamist parties take their orientation from Saudi Arabia or Teheran, they lose support. Where they follow a similar path to the Turkish AKP, there is no reason for the West to fear them.
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Yet it is not only Arab politics that will have to reinvent itself; the same goes for Western policy. The West cannot return to “business as usual”, and this also applies to its dealings with Israel, where the Netanyahu government is clinging blindly to Mubarak.
“Peace process” – an empty phrase
Considered by some to be a political alternative to Mubarak’s authoritarian regime: Nobel peace laureate Mohammad ElBaradei |
The Palestinian question cannot be solved by propagating a “peace process” that is no more than an empty phrase. Israel has shown absolutely no willingness to tolerate a Palestinian state capable of survival. The time has come for more than warm words from Berlin, Brussels and Washington, if a breakthrough is to be made.
What is astonishing is that wars have been waged in Iraq and Afghanistan, ostensibly to help democracy make a breakthrough in these countries.
These wars cost hundreds of thousands of lives in Iraq and have seriously damaged any credibility the West may still have. Billions have been spent on them, much of which is money down the drain.
The Tunisian and Egyptian road is the better one. Yet politicians in the West are having problems acknowledging it.
Read complete story at Qantara.de
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Filed under: Israel, Germany, Palestine, Civil Society, Pluralism, Islam, Arab countries, Europe, USA, Egypt, Zionism Tagged: | Arab countries, Civil Society, Democracy, Diversity, Egypt, USA, Europe, Germany, Palestine, Pluralism, Israel, Tunisia
