The Daily Star
From the far west there are clashes on the borders of Mauritania, Morocco and Algeria; in Libya there is the threat of tribal secession; in Egypt, the youth’s revolution appears to have been hijacked and Sudan and its Southern ex appear continually at loggerheads, with the winds of war blowing stronger.If the Arab world is going to emerge from this current identity crisis, which is embroiling its people in violence and bloodshed, a serious re-evaluation of principles, and the ushering in of systemic and fundamental changes are vital.
Somalia seemingly defines a “failed state” and the people of Yemen may once again be looking at a separated country. The Syrian situation needs no explanation, and in Bahrain, groups are continuing to warn of human rights abuses.
After the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Iraq is still unsettled, with messages in the form of bombings apparently increasing. In Palestine, the failure of various factions to agree on the way forward has allowed Israelis to take advantage of this lacuna, and in Lebanon itself, the situation is tense, with the specter of political assassinations ever present.
In the 21st century, this ongoing inability of the region’s actors to settle internal differences in a democratic, diplomatic way, instead of resorting to bloodshed and sabotage, is rendering the region the laughing stock of the world.
When groupings of countries around the world, from Europe to Southeast Asia, are joining forces in order to prosper economically, socially and developmentally, all the ingredients which should be uniting the states of the Middle East appear in fact to be dividing the region. Tribal and sectarian factors have increasing sway.
Look at India, with its myriad sects and religions, and until recently synonymous with poverty and deprivation. Today it has decided to rise above these divisions, becoming one of the fastest developing countries in the world. The population of the Middle East is but a third of India: such progress should be feasible here too.
With a youth population of around 60 percent, the countries of this region should be striving to increase literacy and alleviate poverty, issues which are being taken advantage of by radicals to strengthen their support bases, taking in the vulnerable and disenfranchised. This is leading many in the West to, wrongly, equate “Arab” or “Muslim” with “terrorist.”
The rights of women, too, are being violated, and in many countries, they are losing their previously hard-fought equality. In Libya, the new government has already legalized polygamy and in Tunisia, authorities are considering the same. It is clear their priorities are not the development of the state.
For genuine, irreversible progress, it is vital for the people of the region to look up from the screens of their cellphones and see past this veneer of modernity offered us by commercialism. But the quest for a new future must start with a confrontation of systemic issues, those of freedom and transparency, which, sadly, do not appear overnight.
For a prominent place in the new world order, and one which the Middle East deserves and can achieve, and to allow its talented people, who always achieve success outside of the region, to shine, a serious examination of the status quo is in order.
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