Are the Arab nations ready for democracy?

When Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor in the city of Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest against the injustice meted out to him, little did he imagine that his self-immolation act of protest would fan the flames and trigger off a domino effect that is even now raging through the Arab world.

Image courtesy: tobejust.com 

Starting with the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, the flames proceeded to sweep through Egypt and Libya, engulfing the seats of a few power-drunk despots on the way. Major protests were also seen across Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Yemen where protestors took to the streets demanding for a change from the deep set rot of unemployment, corruption, inflation, political repression and poor living conditions that seemed common woes to them all.


As youtube videos of violent street protests and the anarchy at Tahrir square, continued to get multiple thousand hits and gain solidarity from the world online community, there was a question that lingered in the back of the mind for many. Are the Arab nations really ready for democracy?

I find this question quite patronising, and crudely stereotypical to be honest. It’s like the British playing that same old tape on rewind. The tape that repeatedly told us for the 250 odd years that they ruled us, that we would not be able to ‘handle’ freedom. That without them ruling us, we would implode. Anarchy would run riot. 64 years of freedom later, though we have our own set of flaws, we’re still living in a thriving democracy.

This is not to say that the conditions in the Arab world and India are any comparable. They have their own unique set of issues, whether it is economic, religious or the world’s obsession over its oil resources. The string of dictators from Ben Ali to Mubarak continued to rule decade after decade, nurtured by the western powers when it suited them and evoking reprimands when the people and the world community turned hostile against the same dictators.

But if our experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us anything, it is that the removal of tyranny alone is insufficient to create a stable democracy. Their prospects for lasting freedom have nothing to do with rhetorical support from Washington, but depend rather on whether those countries have the broader political and economic infrastructure necessary to sustain democracy. 

Image courtesy: frontpagemag.com 

What is unfolding in the Arab streets is not an assertion of religious reaction but a yearning for democracy with all its burdens and rewards. For Arab dictatorships that have often viewed war as a means of enhancing their prestige, an injection of democratic accountability can go a long way toward arresting impetuous impulses. 

Admittedly, the uncertainty and the chance of slipping into greater chaos looms large in the future of these people. They might not completely know what they’ve bargained for yet. That the path to democracy is not a bed of roses, but arduous and needs constant and collective responsibility which is not always easy to achieve. But what is really important is to take that first step towards making the change that the nation is craving for.

Whoever said that democracy is a gene that you have to be born with? History has shown us that people have always fought for, won their right to rule themselves and then grown into the role in the years to come. The difference between successful democracies and failed states is what the people themselves do with that freedom once they earn it. Do they proceed to do to their people what the erstwhile dictators did to them? Or do they rise to the occasion and bring the change for which common people like Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit vendor died for. As the Arab world sits at the cusp of a turn in its destiny, one thing is definite; we sure do live in some interesting times.


Watch this video to get reactions and glimpses during 'the million march rally'  to oust President Hosni Mubarak at Tahrir Square during the protests in Egypt.