Ryan Streeter
This enlightening post at The Corner suggests we should be pumping our fists for Tunisia even as we're wringing our hands over Egypt.
The fact is, Tunisia has been going through what history may see as one of the most successful revolutions, leading to what all Tunisians are hoping to achieve — a truly democratic Tunisia. Cafés are packed and politics is the topic at every table...Public transportation is operating in full. Banks, businesses, and schools are all operating at near-normal schedules, and isolated demonstrations, which had been primarily confined to the main street of Tunis and the nearby kasbah district, have come to an end. Life has returned to a sense of normalcy. Throughout this revolution, there have been no attacks, verbal or physical, towards any foreigners or foreign governments, or by one segment of Tunisian society towards another.
If the writer's perspective is widely shared, there's hope for a post-autocratic transition to democratic rule.
But, then this Debbie-Downer-of-a-post suggests that democracy may not be what's motivating people after all.
Apart from English-speaking educated intellectuals, it does not appear that democracy is what most people have been demonstrating about. Instead, what they are seeking, first and foremost, is economic opportunity unfettered by corruption and favoritism...Tunisians and Egyptian appear to be seeking responsive government, which is quite different from Western notions of democracy...It is noteworthy that for all the talk of upheavals in the Arab world, there has so far been little unrest in the traditional Gulf emirates or in Saudi Arabia.
It's really not a Debbie Downer post. It makes a very compelling point about middle eastern society. Opportunity, mobility, and freedom leading to peace rather than "peace" that is achieved through enforced conformity are part of human aspiration. Democracy may be a means to these aspirational ends, but it may not be what people desire first and foremost.
I recently had an email exchange with a democracy activist in Saudi Arabia that makes me think the story is more mixed than this, though. His email suggests that our global communication environment has a lot of people in the middle east wanting democracy as much as they want these other aspirational goods - they simply go together.
And as for Tunisia's success, let's hope it's real. And here's to hoping that the Egyptians who were inspired by their success are inspired by their transition.
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