Help Arab states replace terrorism with democracy

Source: desmoines register

The first sign of deep frustrations in the Arab world was the rise of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda and the resort to terrorism.

The great joy of the Egyptian revolution is that it shows those same frustrations can produce something vastly more positive and hopeful, possibly the first major democracy in the Arab world.

Because they showed an alternative, and better, pathway for Arab aspirations, the triumphant demonstrators in Cairo delivered a body blow to al-Qaeda.
The challenge now is to make sure the pathway chosen by the people in Tahrir Square isn't a dead end. Everything depends on it leading to a better life for everyday Egyptians.

Egyptians and other Arabs had much to be frustrated about, and not just during the 30-year reign of Hosni Mubarak. The once proud and enlightened Arab culture has been in eclipse for centuries. Arabs were subjugated first by the Ottoman Turks and later by the colonial powers of Europe.
After World War I, the British and French carved up much of the Arab world into a hodge-podge of artificially created kingdoms and emirates, most of which slid into various forms of despotism. Most Arab people existed in an almost medieval world where time stood still, and no one in the outside world seemed to care.

Even the discovery of oil in the Middle East didn't bring much change. The new oil wealth could have been used to build great universities and restore an enlightened Arab culture, but it wasn't. It mostly just enriched the rulers in the countries lucky enough to have oil. Most Arabs still couldn't look forward to a better life.
In recent decades, the Arab world seemed to be the only major cultural tradition that remained mired in a sort of dark ages. The West was vibrant, and the East was catching up fast. The Arab states and some non-Arab Muslim neighbors felt the indignity of being bypassed by history.

Enter the radical Islamists who preached a doctrine of revival via purification. Arab degradation was the fault of the Western infidels, according to the doctrine. The way to glory was to destroy the infidels and return to a mythical pure form of Islam. Since their numbers were few, the extremists turned to the tactic of the weak, terrorism.
That put the West in the no-win position on the side of despots against the terrorists.

Then almost miraculously something snapped among the Arab people, first in Tunisia, then in Egypt. The indignities had grown too much to bear. The corruption too pervasive. The chasm between the wealthy and the middle class too vast.

The people went into the streets, deposed a despot and showed the world and their fellow Arabs that democracy, not extremism, is the more promising path to the future.
Of course, it might be a bumpy path. Perhaps the greatest danger is that democracy will prove no better able to solve economic inequalities than the despots were.

That's where the rest of the world can to pitch in. The international community can't dictate what form of government Egypt adopts, but it can help bolster the economy if it's democratic.

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