Revolt in the Arab World, interesting reading in French

I am sharing a letter I have written to an old friend of mine who lives in Turkey on an interesting article on the revolution in the Arab World.

Dear Benoit:

Many thanks for the link. (http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2011/02/12/revolution-post-islamiste_1478858_3232.html) It is definitely a very interesting perspective on what is going on in the Arab World these past weeks. I have a few comments to the text, which is of course in French in the original.

The very first comment is that that the Author seems to look at Islam as a unified religion, which it is not. Shiites are in no way the same as Sunnis, and even if for both Religion is the basis for the whole political, economic and legal organization of society, Shiesm is fundamentally incompatible with Western democracy as we know and enjoy it.

I agree when he says that the Muslim Brotherhood has changed and evolved. It has gone in two different directions, radicalism and Al-Qaida, and moderation, which I hope is the most extended of the two.

Turkey, incidentally, has given the lead in a secular political system which others should follow.

I also agree when he mentions the social problems - higher education and high unemployment- that make the difference this time. However, I do not agree with his assessment of former President Bush’s Democracy Initiative. I would recommend you to google Condy Rice’s column on this issue on the NY Times or the Washington Post last week. I cannot agree either with the author when he says that President Obama’s policy is “ pragmatic”. I think the current US Administration is far too interested in the internal political repercussions of its foreign policy actions to be considered serious or reasonable.

Finally, I would very much agree and support his view that the massive islamization of society in the Arab World in the past 30 years has not led to a political radicalization. The paradox, as he correctly points out, is that islamization has depoliticized Islam. This can be nothing but good news. Maybe in the near future the individual will become the centre of attention in Muslim societies. That would really allow those societies to break away from the burdens they have suffered for the past few centuries.

Amitiés
Santiago