"My friends, a future of liberty stands before you. It is your right. It is your dream. And it is your destiny." These were the words of President Bush as he spoke about his goals for democracy in the Middle East, but with civil unrest pervading the region, the realization of those goals is very much in question. In a region with such a complex history and unique traditions, can democracy ever truly thrive?
University of Haifa
The reality is that Arab-Islamic history as much as contemporary, clearly show that in the Middle East there is anything but democratic liberal processes. There are no sovereign states led by an electorate and certainly no civic societies. There is no concept of citizen’s rights or freedoms and social miserability and economic wretchedness dominates the whole way of life. Leadership has always been the prerogative of the ruling elite, religious and military, who are coercive and subduing.
The West cannot and should not enhance and hasten democracy in the Middle East. The balance sheet is really a tragedy: In Iraq (where anarchy and chaos are the real mark); in Lebanon (where Hezbollah takes the lead to transform Lebanon to a Shiite state); in the Palestinian Authority (where Hamas took control in Gaza and lead the Palestinians, bringing Abu Mazen to obscurity and obsoleteness); And in Pakistan (where Bhutto was murdered and the Mujahiddin are on the offensive and are about to take hold of this nuclear state).
In the Middle East democracy is not at the corner, and the US should devote its energies to pursuing and keeping its real interests.
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