Internet, penemuan orang kafir itu membuka mata orang Arab... --- In [email protected], "sunny" <ambon@...> wrote: > > http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=235530 > > > Columnists 14 February 2011, Monday 2 1 0 0 > > > ÖMER TASPINAR > o.taspinar@... > > > The end of Arab exceptionalism > > > Since the end of the Cold War, political scientists who focus on > democratization spoke of the Arab exception when they referred to global > dynamics ending authoritarian regimes. After all, of all the 22 members of > the Arab League, only Lebanon qualified as a democracy, according to the > standard definition of the term -- based on multiple alterations of political > power through free and fair elections. > > But Lebanon was always too fragile and chronically prone to chaos > to challenge the gloomy state of affairs dominating the Arab world. It was > hardly a success story that could lead the way for the rest of the 300 > million Arabs. Experts knew that there was only one country that had the > strategic resonance to become a regional pace setter for Arabs. If Egypt went > democratic, everything could change rapidly in the region. > > It may still be too early to call Egypt a democracy. The military > is now in charge. But such sobriety should not diminish the historical > importance of what the world has just witnessed in the Middle East. The > Egyptian autocracy came to an end, not thanks to a military intervention. It > was nothing less than a genuine peoples' revolution that achieved this > monumental outcome. I'm tempted to call this grass roots people's revolution > a first in the Arab world, but a few weeks before Egypt, everything started > in tiny Tunisia. Tunisians should be proud for giving 80 million Egyptians > the hope that they could do the same. Today, the Arab world is finally > converging with the democratic dynamics that swept the world since the > collapse of the Berlin Wall almost 20 years ago. What we are witnessing in > Cairo is not just history in its most exciting form. What happened last > Friday also put an end to a century of Arab exceptionalism. We should cherish > this moment and appreciate its historical significance before asking the > unavoidable question that now permeates in the West: What's next? > > Not surprisingly, the global punditry is sharply divided between > those who believe that there is a high risk of Islamization and those who see > the birth pangs of genuine democracy. Whatever happens next in Egypt, the > West should start by learning from its own mistakes. For too long Europe and > the United States naively believed that the only alternative to Mubarak was > the Muslim Brotherhood. They blindly supported the devil they knew because of > their fear of the alternative. To those Westerners who complained about human > rights abuses in Egypt, Mubarak could always say, "If you don't like me, just > look around Cairo and tell me if you are ready for the Islamists to take > over." This, of course, was exactly what Mubarak wanted them to believe. > > In reality, there was always a democratic, liberal, relatively > secular and pro-Western alternative to radical Islam in Egypt, but Mubarak > did his best to crush this third alternative with his repressive regime and > police state. The autocratic leader of Egypt always complained about American > or European human rights groups trying to promote basic freedoms in his > country, mainly on the grounds that democracy cannot be exported from the > outside. In the meantime, he excelled in undermining democracy from the > inside. > > Now that the old regime is gone, it is time for a third > alternative to emerge. Those who still fear political Islam's ascendance > should put their concern in perspective. What gave the Muslim Brotherhood its > broad appeal was the authoritarian nature of the political regime in Egypt. > From now on life will be much more difficult for Islamists in Egypt. They > will no longer be able to rely on their narrative of victimhood and their > facile slogan "Islam is the solution." Now, they will have to compete with > other political parties in a democratic environment. The mosque will no > longer be the only place in the country where people are able to come > together to discuss alternatives to the repressive regime. Political Islam > will be only one movement among many contending to rule Egypt. With the end > of Arab exceptionalism and the winds of democratization blowing in the Arab > world, we may very well be witnessing the weakening of political Islam in the > Middle East. > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
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