Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Jasmine Revolution: A Breath of Fresh Air

A country of millions, ready to see a chance and tired of the same old, with rising food and fuel prices, unchallenged unemployment with largest groups of jobless youth, and with the drain of an economy living off the output of the biggest liberal democracy. Drinking coke, using Facebook and Twitter, watching the latest Hollywood film, and yet frustrated that they lack something watching their economy continue to grind to a halt. I majority of people, gathering with one word in mind, 'change', but this time I am not talking about the election of an American president, but the rise of a people's movement to make liberalism at the heart of where Egypt and others go from here. This is what change is all about, where those who hold a country hostage at the foot of a barrel discover the continued relentlessness of their people, and the want and expectation of more. I hope no one is at a shock that this movement has spread, it might be however easy to doubt a democracy movement in countries like Libya, and Tunisia with long histories with dictatorships. But even with so many quick to point to this as a Berlin wall revolution, where do nations like Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya go from here, if democracy is to ensue. Is this a different type of revolution, one not seen before?

The huge demonstrations in Egypt have been compared with the Berlin Wall but the big difference between that and this is that no one saw this coming [not even Wael Ghonim the Google exec who helped organize the initial protects in Egypt]. Whilst comparing this to the Berlin Wall mounts comfort that this revolt in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East is a move to freedom from oppression, and a better Middle East, nations like the United States and Israel need to remember, that this isn't necessarily about them, no matter how quick CNN and BBC are so quick to pitch it so. It is understandable that Israel feels as those its security is in turmoil with Egypt, but talk of concern about what is going on could backfire and bring about an Egypt that is not quick to look at their favor, specially if countries like Israel favor the old over the new. The United States and other nations need to realize, that this revolution is not a tempory state within nations, that hopes of continued stability can lead one to ignore, but instead this represents a real expression of how people feel, and what they want to see done. Thomas Friedman has written a nice editorial in the New York Times which talks about the need for America to wake up and smell the missing oil supply, and do something about it, but implying a link between that and events going on in Egypt, or Libya, specks to the same point: This isn't necessarily about America, this is about nations in the Middle East left alone by the rest of the world with false stability, and people in these nations want a voice. Don't be so self concerned you forget what is actually going on here beyond your own borders America, this is a moment of change in the Middle East, not another excuse to become self concerned. Do not simply make this all about you because your missing a real story here if you do.

The easy part is now over for Egypt, the people on the streets was half the work, which is something that the people in Egypt need to remember [not to suggest that It might be strange however, to talk of a constant revolution at a time of extreme change in Egypt, but in reality that is exactly what all new democracies demand]. Democracy is not something you acquire, and suddenly all your problems are solved. Instead the stench of authoritarian rule often feed limitations, and the slow weak pace of governance take new forms, with the army preaching change with the people but still wearing the same mask as the last regime just gone. As soon as forces of friction rather then momentum surround a countries future, we face the prospect of a new Iran from Egypt, and Tunisia and Libya. I know this is not a heart warming thought, and one to which I'm sure people in these countries even recent, but that is exactly the point: if the people don't represent and create their future nations as a whole, as a democracy, it doesn't matter what they think. There should be time to recover, you cannot attract tourists to your country, fight rising prices, and poverty, and have a revolution constantly playing out on the streets, but the true blessing of democracy is that the streets become cleared, yet the voices remain. People find a voice in the people who represent them, and on the leaders concerned with not just maintaining the security of their current economy, this is now the challenge that rests before Egypt, and Tunisia and any other Middle Eastern nation that moved from dictatorship to democracy. From this comes a revolution seen only in a minor sense in the middle east before, this isn't just about democracy, or liberty, this is about people in their own countries having a voice, that is the real wake up call and where the real story is. The suppressed remain suppressed no more, what comes next, is a constant revolution, not necessarily of extremism, but of the people. Don't be so quick to fear it, those in the rest of the world, you should instead watch the Middle East have its own chance to learn what democracy is all about, before you compare this with the Berlin Wall or with the seeds of more Irans. The cat is not out of the bag just yet.