By Andre Michael Eggelletion
What will result from the current revolutions sweeping the Middle East? Will democracy flourish, as all free people hope, or will democracy’s aspirants merely see one form of tyranny supplanted by another? Will the people of the Middle East chose to be led by extreme, moderate or no Islamist influences at all? These are questions that the world can only stand by and wait for answers.
One thing that seems certain for sure is that the Middle East is fast being transformed from within. It was the Tunisian people who overthrew their autocratic ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power. Days later these influences inspired massive protests in Cairo, resulting in the end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30 years rule. No one knows what kind of government will emerge in these countries, but one thing is clear: the people are bringing about historic changes in their governments. The question is what challenges will these changes bring for America?
Will it work?
I think we should not fail to understand that you can’t assume newly formed democratic governments will always work. Democratic governance has only had a relative wide-spread existence in the world for less than a century. The sober fact is that historically, democratic regimes have not always been feasible or successful. Certain pre-requisites must be in place for new democracies to overcome problems with majority rule, otherwise, the rank and file becomes easily disillusioned. All they can inductively conclude is that their experiment in democracy has spawned indecisiveness in their government and failed to alleviate poverty. When the pre-requisites for democracy’s success are absent, in the end, the people may turn back to autocracy. As Pakistani author Ali Ashraf Khan said in his article entitled “Why Democracy Failed in Pakistan,” “Democracy is government of the people, for the people and by the people at the same time it should also have confidence of the people and then and only then democracy can thrive. Pakistan never had any democratic blood in its veins.”
Democratic pre-requisites
Meaningful participatory democracy requires approximate equality in wealth, income, and property ownership, since large class and socioeconomic disparities undercut the ability of citizens to act as equals and confer disproportionate political, policy, and cultural influence on those with superior resources. Secondly, a sense of community between individuals must exist. There must be a sense that each individual's well-being is positively connected to the common good. Finally, there must be an effective system of communications that accurately informs and engages the citizenry, encouraging their intelligent participation in political life.
As protests continue to spread into Iran, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, and Algeria, some of the things pro-democracy people should be aware of are the things that poison democracy, such as: political corruption; excessive sovereign debt service; lack of natural resources; lack of a viable trade regime; lack of transportation and communication infrastructure; inadequate health care system; lack of domestic security and a globally respected judicial system; and an inadequate education system. Unfortunately, in the Middle East, these problems have become chronic and persistent. In part, it is our foreign policy that has allowed these impediments to democracy to become so common place in the Middle East and the rest of the developing world. Sustainable democracies demand an alternative to engaging despotic regimes if they accommodate the strategic interests of the U.S. national security state apparatus and/or corporate West, and confronting anyone that does not. The autocrats running these countries cannot be allowed to continue to bleed their people dry as their resources are privatized, markets are liberalized, and draconian austerity is imposed. In short, if democracy does not bring about an improvement in the lives of the masses, to them democracy is a failure.
In the final analysis, all we can do is hope that whatever governments emerge from the current revolution in the Middle East, are friendly to U.S. interests. Let’s hope they truly share an interest in freedom, mutual respect, and international cooperation. Let’s do all we can to help these struggling masses yearning for prosperity to succeed, and not consign them to debt slavery. Not to do so would raise the likelihood of a return to autocracy and breed a new generation of anti-Western ideologues praying for our demise.
