Democracy in the Middle East

Democracy seems to be part of the driving force behind many of the protests in the Middle East.  If not democracy as we know it in the United States, at least more freedom and citizen participation in how the government is run.  These protests, at least for now seem to be winding down, in part because the successful ones are now working on transitioning to a more democratic government and the others because they have been excessively shut down through brutal beatings and killings by those in power.   In reading an article last night in the NYTimes by Thomas Friedman, new factors were brought to light that I personally had not considered before.  It is well worth reading the whole piece he wrote as I will only sum it up here.   To sum it up, he feels that a good number of the countries where protests occured such as Yemen, Bahrain, Syria do not have a good chance at seeing democracy flourish if their rulers are removed from power.   This is because most of those countries as they stand now are divided between tribal disputes, issues over religious sects, and internal power struggles that if given free reign, would more likely lead to "civil war versus a civil society."  As an example, he sites the Eastern European country of Yugoslavia, who after the Iron Curtain came crashing down in the late 80's, fell into civil war between clashing ethnic groups. 

In order for democracy to flourish as it did in other Eastern European countries after the Cold War ended, there must be strong leadership and a general consensus amongst the whole population of the country as to how the country should be run.   Often times we forget to look to the past to learn the lessons we need today.  So this brings up the issue, how are these countries going to reconcile their differences in order to bring about democratic change?   It must first come with an acceptance of the tribes or religious sects that they are embattled against.  In Bahrain there are the Shiite's and the Sunni's, and in Yemen, you have the same issue plus various tribal issues to contend with.  Each group believes that they are correct and are unwilling to accept the other's point of view or even the fact that they should exist all together.  What they really need is a charismatic leader, someone accepted by different sects and tribes to work with all of them to reach some sort of consesus as to their vision for their country.  Without a distinct vision of democracy or even a constitutional monarchy that is based on a vision of unity with freedom of expression and religion, any effort to reform government will break down.  It seems that one of the biggest struggles that these countries face is between the differen sects of Islam.  When you boil it down, they amount to different interpretations of the Koran and how one should worship and lead one's life.  Every religion has differences in how they worship, different sects, and different beliefs.  If you look at Christianity, you have Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Baptists, etc.  The same goes with Judaism where you run the gammit from ultra-orthodox to "light" Judaism as I will call it.  What it all boils down to is acceptance and a willingness not to force your opinion on someone else. 

So then how can Egypt and Tunisia seem as successful as they are right now even with their non-homogenous populations?  While Egypt does have a variety of religions represented, the majority are Muslim.  Regardless of that fact, they were able to rally behind the fact that every single person, either Muslim or Coptic Christian, were being suppressed equally by in essence a dictator.   In rallying behind the need for everyone to live in freedom, there was unity in purpose and a common cause, something that is absent in Bahrain and Yemen.   Is Egypt scot free yet?  No, simply because democracy is not a simple idea to implement into a society that was subjected to tyranny for so many years.  Everyone has their specific idea of what they want and what needs to be done, and there will be disagreements and issues along the way.  The main thing that they must keep in mind is the ultimate goal that they set out to accomplish, a desire to live freely, and in keeping that goal in mind, they must also resist the temptation to get sidetracked by minute differences of opinion or minor obstacles on their path.  If Yemen and Bahrain especially, due to their tribal and religious differences, can find a common cause to rally behind, accept each other for who they are and fight for freedom for everyone (not simply Sunni's or Shiite's) then perhaps democracy can succeed. 

Democracy will take time to implement in the Middle East.  In the United States alone, it took years before the details of how the country should be run were ironed out.  And even then, we plunged into civil war after democracy was in place for decades.  Finding a common ground amongst people is perhaps one of the most difficult things we can do as humans simply because we all have widely varying opinions on how a government should be run, who is right, who is wrong, and what the ultimate goal should be.  One needs only to look at our current political landscape to see this in action.  Even in perhaps one of the most democratic countries in the world, we can not reach agreements on how big or small the government should be, or what the government should actually do.  The big difference is, we don't resort to physical violence when we can't agree, we listen, debate, listen some more, and then debate even more.  Nothing will ever be perfect and this is perhaps the key to success in the Middle East.  People need to realize that no matter what form of government they decide to stand behind, nothing will satisfy the needs of everyone.  The most we can hope for across the world, but especially right now in the Middle East, is freedom to express one's opinion without being beaten, freedom to protest without being killed, and freedom to worship whatever and however we choose without being chastised for our choice.  If they can achieve this, democracy will come, albeit slowly, but it will come.   Let us only hope today that they can resolve their differences, find their cause, and move forward in peace and diplomacy.