The Arabs have been talking, writing and even singing about Hurriyah (Liberty) for decades. Yet they have failed miserably to translate this longing into reality. While there have been isolated attempts to introduce political reforms into some Arab states by individuals and small groups, very little change has been accomplished over the course of the last sixty years. This is due to the fact that most attempts were conceived and executed by undemocratic military officers who had only one agenda: to gain power.
Despite their inflammatory orations and empty promises to rid the Arab world of colonialism, tribalism, regionalism, nepotism, feudalism, circumscribed thinking, intolerance and autocracies that do not recognize the rights of their citizens to determine their fate through self-government, these power seekers turned out to be as tyrannical, and in some cases more so, than the ones that they uprooted.
Cultural, religious, political and social transformation of Arab societies similar to what Kamal Attaturk did in Turkey at the turn of the 21st century were never the intent of the new wave of Arab dictators.
Instead of preparing their people for and modernizing their institutions to embrace democracy and technological advancement, the new breed of power grabbers have mobilized the Arab masses around emotional issues such as Islam, nationalism, liberation, anti-Zionism and the reconstruction of an earlier Arab civilization that collapsed due to the same social and political ills that plague every Arab country today. The tragedy of these self-appointed "reformers" is that, they start from the same premises and values as the societies from which they spring. Their ideas are rejectionist and reactionary rather than progressive. They offer no new democratic alternatives or values on which to base a new society.
These self-aggrandizing "reformers" have failed to rectify the many ills that have befallen Arab societies for generations. Through their controlled media and grossly exaggerated information, they focused their populations' attention on external threats and exploitation instead of creating a civil society where people could be free to live the life they want, become self-reliant, productive and free from crippling paternalism. The feeble attempts to modernize the Arab world were also not universal enough to succeed.
Even those self-serving movements toward "reform" that took place in selected Arab countries were totally rejected in the Arabian Peninsula. Countries like Saudi Arabia and its neighboring Gulf States were bypassed by two centuries of economic, political, social and technological renaissance that swept many parts of the world. These states have been ruled by feudal nomadic chiefs before and since they acquired statehood. The present kings, amirs and sultans inherited the land, the wealth and the people from their parents and grandparents.
They exert total control over every aspect of their citizens' lives. They consider and treat the land, its natural resources and inhabitants as their private property. Other than window dressing, these autocratic regimes have fiercely resisted all forms of political, social, economic reforms, accountability, transparency and civil society. They maintained power and control of their countries' wealth and people through repressive means. What's worse, they use Islam to justify their abundant corruption, extravagant life style and repressive forms of governing.
If ever meaningful reforms are to be introduced into the Arab world, they need to be broad based, including all levels of society and that not only reject the negative "isms" that haunt the Arabs, but that offer and institute new democratic values to replace those that have not served the Arab people's interests in the past. |
