Tides of the Arab revolutions

موضوع: Tides of the Arab revolutions 2011-11-26, 10:46 pm

Tides of the Arab revolutions 2011112695523513734_20

Some
in Syria's opposition have begun to call for military intervention,
and the implementation of a 'no-fly zone' similar to that enforced by
NATO in Libya [EPA]

The ebb and flow of the Arab revolutions is revealing political
storms that could flood the Arab world with chaos. The people and their
organised opposition groups mustn't fall prey to the dictators'
ultimatums of "me or the flood".

It is a false choice. The
Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions have shown a third way forward; one
that no longer considers dictatorships as a fait accomplis, nor a spiralling descent into civil war, nor to become dependent on international protection.

This
is not to say that all situations and challenges are one and the same,
and revolutions must evolve like carbon copies of each other.
Circumstances are, of course, different among Arab states.

But behind the specifics of each Arab society and polity there are also commonalities worth considering, without generalisation.

Three dimensions or general guidelines should, in particular, be examined.

Numbers speak louder than words

Some
of the regimes, as in Libya or Syria, have had bloody records during
the years, and their violent crackdown in recent months has pushed
people to arm themselves or to ask for international intervention or
protection.

But the militarisation of the Libyan revolution and
the international intervention in Libya has proven costly. Before the
intervention started, the estimated deaths stood at one to two thousand people.

By the time it ended several months later, tens of thousands were dead. Some put the figure at 20,000, others more than double that.

The huge difference in the estimates underlines just how bad and messy things have become.

Those Syrians asking for international intervention must consider the terrible cost paid by the Libyans.

Moreover,
the oil-rich North African nation might be able to pay for
reconstruction, but it won't recover the terrible "collateral damage" in
human losses and injuries.

Syria, meanwhile, is not only poor,
it's also a complicated society with growing ethnic tensions and deep
societal polarisation. It's not clear how imposing a no-fly-zone in
Syria could ease the regime's crackdown. The Syrian military is heavily
deployed among the population centres and would be hard to hit without
terrible cost to citizens.

Short of costly foreign military
intervention with boots on the ground that would also cripple Syria's
national security capabilities for decades to come, with dangerous
regional and international ramifications, it's not clear how any foreign
military intervention could help.

Furthermore, NATO, the only
international military alliance capable of such operation as in Libya or
the Balkans, has made clear they have no appetite for another mission.
They also emphasised they wouldn't act in any way without a UN Security
Council mandate.

In addition, Russia and China have already made
clear their rejection of any such military scenario in Syria or a repeat
of Libya.

Short history, shorter memory

People
have every right to defend themselves - and I am in no position to ask
people to suffer at the hands of their oppressors. However, those
advocating the militarisation of the Arab revolutions as a strategy and
asking for international intervention to support the growing insurgency
have either lapsed or selective memory.

In the not so distant
past, a generation of young officers between the ages of 26-36 took the
reins of power and went on to rule for decades with iron fist - in
Syria, Yemen, Libya and Algeria.

No domestic military answer succeeded in resolving any Arab or Middle
Eastern problems in recent decades - except in terms of ridding people
of colonialism. And even that has come with a very heavy price - as in
the case of Algeria.

Certainly, the international corollary is
also correct. No international military intervention/adventure in the
region has succeeded in resolving central issues of governance,
development and freedom either.

Western and other interference
over the past century has not only failed to resolve any problem,
foreign powers have mostly complicated the national and political
situations and compounded the region's problems.

The seeds of the
current ethnic and sectarian divisions facing the likes of Syria, Iraq,
Lebanon and Palestine/Israel were planted by European colonialism in
the hope of dividing and ruling the area.

Syrians asking for
international intervention need to reflect calmly, not only upon NATO's
intervention in Libya, but also over the intervention in Iraq - where
hundreds of thousands have been killed, and where the sectarian tensions
continue to cripple the nation, leaving it at the mercy of the US and
Iran.

In short, the likes of Syria and Yemen cannot afford to be
dragged into civil wars by dictators or into total dependency on
Western/international protection.

For their own

It's
quite ironic that Moscow and Beijing that have long claimed to speak on
behalf of the people are now transparently siding with the autocracies,
and those who long stood with dictators are now claiming to stand with
the people.

At the heart of their disagreement lies a far more sinister calculus than peoples' rights.

BRICS
powers such as China and Russia insist on the stability of an
inter-state system that respects national sovereignties that secures
their interests - regardless of what happens inside these states.

Meanwhile,
western powers - speaking in the name of "the international community"
- are advancing a more globalised international system that gives them
greater access to independent nations on economic, security and
humanitarian grounds.

The Arabs need to remember that regional and international powers have "interests" - not "friends" - in this region.

On their own

For
their part, Egyptians have returned to the streets and public squares
of their major cities in recent days, forcing the military to apologise
for its policies, to appoint a new government with full authority and to
promise to vacate its executive role after presidential elections by
the middle of next year.

And even that has fallen short of
peoples' demands - after tens have died in the protests at the hands of
vengeful security forces. Yet the revolution has made important strides.

The
week's balance sheet, like the year's in total, has been in favour of
the revolution that continues to show a restless and vibrant public
eager to open a new page in the history of their country.

As I wrote in February, the question for Egypt is not who replaces Mubarak - rather what replaces the Mubarak regime.

The
generals' backing of the revolution against Mubarak and company might
have quickened his downfall and eventual imprisonment, but it also
delayed a serious change in the country's operating system.

This
meant that change would be slow and short of the expectations of the
people - who feel there hasn't been a sufficient enough political and
institutional break with the past.

True, the revolution did help
dissolve the former ruling national democratic party and put its leaders
on trial, but the system that incubated the party and military remained
intact.

But as the Egyptians and the Tunisians successfully
pursue their revolutionary goals peacefully - albeit slowly breaking
with the past, the complications stemming from militarising the
revolutions in Libya, and potentially in Yemen and Syria, would not only
slow down those revolutions, but would also backfire.

Attaining
their goals through peaceful means is far more productive and
constructive for the Arabs in both the short and long term than pursuing
military solutions with outside military help, campaigns that, in all
likelihood, would take even longer and be more destructive.