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By Abdelkader Zerougui
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The autocrats and dictators advocate the existence of a strong state, and say the masses cannot be trusted with democracy. Despots often accuse foreign powers and local "traitors" who seek to destabilize the region, and by that creating a conspiracy theory to legitimize their aggressive behavior toward any form of dissent. No Arab government was able to grant its people the freedom they deserve, and empower them with some form of dignity.
The Arab world with all its forms of despots succeeded in adapting to the internal and external challenges. When nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s failed to deliver to the masses, new policies of privatization and controlled self-governing were introduced in the 1980s.
The state redistributed parts of the wealth to the well-connected and loyal members, who established businesses and took control over large parts of the economy. Moreover, fake-parliaments, assemblies, and opposition were engineered to counter the external criticism, and propagate the myth that changes were taking place albeit slowly.
The Arab world engaged in turf wars, each nation-tribe was willing to sacrifice its neighbor to deflect attention from its problems. By supporting different groups, and divergent factions, some states totally collapsed under the weight of armed groups and the fragility of their own institutions, others avoided such a collapse, but in exchange remain at the mercy of their foreign protectors.
How does the exchange system operate in the Arab world? Certain individuals have access to the state's wealth. Bank loans, concessions to land, licenses for businesses, etc. are limited to a few, whom at the same redistribute jobs, and exert control over who gets what. A web of mafia-like networks that makes a large portion of the population not only alienated, but also strangers in their own countries.
At the center of this tragedy is that people are dying, incarcerated in dungeons with the complicity of the Western world, which often prioritizes its own self-centered interests more than universal human rights. How can we free the Arab world from this continuous nightmare? Why do ordinary people have to endure the continuous animal-like treatment?
Government and states' institutions are plagued with corruption and favoritism. Few have access to the states' favors, others are marginalized and constantly humiliated to the point of losing hope. Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian vegetable vendor who set himself on fire in 2010 and died from his injuries, is a typical example of despair in these parts of the world.
For an Egyptian, a Sudanese, a Yemeni or a Moroccan, it is a daily struggle for a job, for a permit to travel, for an identity card, for respect and for a basic right of every citizen. In the Western world, people commit suicide because of depression, and sometimes because of the excessive material world.
In the Arab world, by committing suicide, a person defies even his/her own religion which prohibits such an act, because they see themselves becoming irrelevant, with no future, no hope and no sense in their existence. A culture of pessimism becomes the norm, as tyrants not only limit the marginalized intake of daily-calories, but colonize their dreams, and break their will to exist.
People are driven to the edge, by that extraction of any form righteousness from their being. Communities disintegrate, and decent people are turned into wild wolves. A hidden battle for self-preservation allows the tyrannical regimes to continue their existence. The more inner-fighting between the impoverished masses, the more likely that the system perpetuates itself.
After200 years of the French Revolution and its slogan "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" and the Declarations of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which asserts the political rights of citizens, due process, the right of freedom of thought and belief, the accountability of public servants. The Arab world remained caught in the trivialities of life, and mundane debates that make Europe's Dark Ages look like a Golden Age for Middle East.
Authors argue that the Arab world lacks a middle class, and the ethic of mercantilism, which are essential for establishing democracy. My argument is that there is a total absence of a "political will" that is essential in any transformation. History tells us that Europe, Asia, and America had at sometime, leaders that transcended their narrow self-interests, and had pioneer-dreams to change their world, and leave a legacy as a testament to their existence.
The Arab world does not have Thomas Jefferson or Napoleon Bonaparte. Leaders come and go, and yet these countries remain in the tail of history. There is a total absence of any industrial base, combined with a dismal state of education and research, an absence of transparency, and a gloomy political culture.
The Arab world has been a stage of wars and destruction. The Lebanese civil war, the destruction of Iraq, Libya and Syria; the war in Yemen; and the revolts in Tunisia and Sudan are indicators of what's to come in the region.
With the dwindling of natural resources, the rentier-states will eventually collapse, and as a result, the Arab world will turn into a barren land, and "war of all against all" will take place, as despots will no longer be able to maintain the system of clientelism that is the core of their authoritarianism.
Abdelkader Zerougui (zerouguiabdelkader@yahoo.com) is an adjunct professor at American University.
