---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Liberation News Service <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:54 PM Subject: "Whither the Arab World?" To: Liberation News Service <[email protected]>
"Whither the Arab World?" by Chakanyuka Karase [excerpts of the news analysis on the developments currently unfolding in the Arab world:] It started with Tunisia, then Egypt, spreading to Yemen, Algeria, Bahrain and Libya. The unprecedented events unfolding in the Arab world are dramatic and have left punters at a loss to predict the outcome. There is no doubt that these events will have far-reaching effects on the balance of power in world affairs. The current wave of protests sweeping across the Middle East has common factors. The first factor is that the countries concerned are Arabic and the governments have strong partnerships with the West, rather than China or Russia. The second factor is that the countries have impressive GDP's but some of their citizens live in extreme poverty. Another common factor is that the political systems in those countries had limited democratic space to the extent that in some cases the opposition had neither discernible structures nor leadership. In each of the countries concerned, the West was working well with the respective governments and reaping large economic benefits. Bahrain for example hosts the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy, and is likely to be hosting strategic missile systems as well. It is remarkable that the West has distanced itself from the respective regimes as soon as trouble knocked on the doorstep. For Mubarak, this must have been the greatest betrayal since he had upheld the interests of the US and Israel for his entire reign, particularly through the Camp David Accords. In his recent newsletter on Egypt, Comrade (Fidel) Castro says "When the Egyptian people were awaiting explanations from the government of their own country, the answers were coming from senior officials of the United States intelligence or government bodies, without any respect for Egyptian officials". It is the hypocrisy of Europe and America that is remarkable; that the same good leader instantly becomes a villain. Leaders in Africa and the developing countries must take note of the serious hazard here. The uprisings were hailed by the West as an expression of "peoples' power". However they are condoning mobocracy, or mob rule. The thesis is difficult to comprehend; a coup is not acceptable but mobocracy is acceptable. Both methods are unconstitutional but western logic is accepting one but not the other. It can only mean that mobocracy is considered acceptable for the lesser people of the developing world since Europe and America will not brook any such chaos. The West does not mind authoritarian rule as long as their interests in a host country are protected. Latin America is full of examples; Noriega, Pinochet and others. The list extends to Saddam Hussein, Mobutu Sese Seko, Jonas Savimbi and Bin Laden himself. There is a big possibility that the wave of protests is driven more by nationalism and anti-imperialism rather than sectarianism or the desire for liberalised lifestyles. Some have savoured the idea of an uprising in Zimbabwe based on the period that the President has served, ignoring the basket of other factors at play. An analysis of the factors at play indicates how catastrophic an uprising in Zimbabwe would be. It stands to be seen which of the basket of factors attributable to the wave of protests sweeping across the Arab world are dominant. Essentially, whether the protests will eventually carry Western interests or anti-imperial sentiment. The West has no big reason to cheer for now since regimes that are friendly regimes have been either toppled or are under threat. The prospect of Western democracy taking root across the Middle-East is cherished by the West. However a word of caution, the new governments may be highly nationalistic if not downright anti-imperialistic. * Chakanyuka Karase is the chairman of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Management in Zimbabwe. [Prens Latina] -- You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole. -AMBEDKAR http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
