Egypt's Revolt: How Democracy Can Work In The Middle East

TIME:

Whatever happens in the next few days will not change the central narrative of Egypt's revolution. Historians will note that Jan. 25 marked the start of the end of Mubarak's 30-year reign. And now we'll test the theory that politicians and scholars have long debated. Will a more democratic Egypt become a radical Islamic state? Can democracy work in the Arab world?

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[stape45]

11:38 PM on 02/05/2011

Hope they know whose example not to follow.

[shekarm]

05:55 PM on 02/05/2011

While I respect Zakaria generally, I have to really question his judgement here. I mean what is the point of asking a question like "Will Democracy work in the Arab world?" mean? He is too well informed to know that it is working in Turkey now. It worked in Iran before the CIA coup in 1954. It worked in Palestine before Israel bombed the hell out of it and Egypt upheld the blockade.

May be he should get honest and ask the real question: "Would Democracy work in the Arab World - a Democracy that we can control."

While he is at it, why doesn't he ask about Democracy in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan?

[jgarbuz]

10:59 PM on 02/05/2011

Turkey and Iran are not Arab countries, and there was never a state, much less a democratic one, called "Palestine." Palestine is a geographical name, like "New England." No such state ever existed.

[shekarm]

12:35 AM on 02/06/2011

The Palestinian Council did have an election to elect a legislature and elected Hamas that the west did not like. True that Iran and Turkey are not Arab countries but are in the middle east and the region has more to do with the politics than some inherent Arabian trait. I just don't understand the point of such a question? Did people ask this of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Israel or countless other nations that have reasonably functioning democracies?

Seems like an irrelevant question unless of course you add the clause "one that we can control."

[CaptRuby]

04:09 PM on 02/05/2011

Democracy will work for middle east, or any other country, exactly like it works for us. No ifs, and no buts.

People talking from both sides of their mouth, casting doubts, and being dishonest is a big problem.

[DrJykell]

12:49 PM on 02/05/2011

The people of Egypt have been oppressed for 3 decades and are tired of it,,, the younger generation has been raised with the internet and satelite information which has educated them enough to realize how oppressed they really are by a form of govt that enriches the few and leaves practically nothing for the people...

Now the right wing media has begun a series of propaganda reports that are distorting what's actually happening to find ways to side with a dictatorship over freedom and democracy...
It really shows a side to right wing media that needs to be examined by everyone...

These are peaceful protesters who have come under attack from pro-mubarak thugs sent out by those who have profitted most from the oppression of millions of the Egyptian population....
But the sad truth is all of the American corporate media is beginning to mislead and distort a lot of what's truly happening and playing on the fears of those unaware of the reality....

For our own future security,, we need to back all those who are brave enough to defy all dictators.
http://killinghope.org/#essays by historian William Blum

The United States became the target of terrorists on 9/11 not because of the country's freedom and democracy, but because U.S. Middle East policy has had nothing to do with freedom and democracy." – Stephen Zunes

[Horst]

04:03 PM on 02/05/2011

The Egyptians have been oppressed for millenia. Since 1952 they have been ruled by generals. Before that a Turkish imposed Albanian monarchy, before that the Turks, etc etc. I wish them a democratic future, but after 5,000 years it seems unleikely.

[justitia]

12:42 PM on 02/05/2011

"Can democracy work in the Arab world?"

Zakaria's premise is already condescending from the very start. Democracy is not like a toy that will either run or not. Real life is far different. Unlike chess, as the saying goes, in life there are no checkmates. You can keep at it until you succeed.

Consider the following in regard to the United States. At first it didn't have democracy in the way we define the word. What the Founding Fathers envisioned was not democratic at all. At first only white men with property could vote. Slavery existed and it took a civil war to end it, and it took 100 years more to dismantle legal racism (segregation). Women had to fight for the right to vote inch by inch (or should I say, state by state), culminating in the 19th amendment in the Constitution in1920, a full 144 years after the nation's founding.

The point is democracy will only work if you fight for and keep improving it. In Egypt there are those who think this way and we should support them.

[hummering]

09:49 PM on 02/05/2011

Ahh - you are a voice of reason in a sea of intellectual sarcasm.

[northstar11]

12:08 PM on 02/05/2011

when mubarak leaves and his wealth is eventually confiscated ----who gets it ----egypt or the USA?

[justitia]

12:43 PM on 02/05/2011

It should go to the people of Egypt.

[myaa]

01:42 PM on 02/05/2011

Egypt, its people or indeed the Arab world owe nothing to the US.

[mnkors]

11:51 AM on 02/05/2011

First, the US should stop promoting murderers and torturers:

http://noworldsystem.com/2011/02/05/omar-suleiman-cias-torture-chief-in-egypt/

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/02/gimme_shelter

[TXfemmom]

11:32 AM on 02/05/2011

I would love to see the Middle East and Egypt have a free, functioning, democratic government which recognizes basic human rights and dignity of all.  However, I do not hold out great hopes for it.
 
Prior to 9/11, I had purchased a Koran, and three books by highly acclaimed Islamic scholars to assist me in understanding the Koran, and I read two thirds of it after 9/11.  I finally just put it aside, as the Koran changes tone and becomes more and more belligerent and violently aggressive as Mohammed aged.  However, after spending hours and hours in reading the Koran and the three scholars, who went line by line and described the context, the meaning in Arabic and the cultural and Sharia implications of it, it convinced me that as long as Sharia is the basis for laws and governments in the Middle East and elsewhere where Islam is the main religion, then basic human rights and democracy cannot and will not co-exist with Islam.
 
Islam Sharia law simply does not recognize that every person should have the same rights and protections of government, and officially sanctions things which are against any free, functioning society.  It will refuse to punish rapists, requiring that the rape be witnessed by FOUR ADULT MALES?  When is rape ever witnessed like that?  Then, it calls for the victim, the woman to be punished for the behavior of the rapist.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of other ways in which Islam is just totally inconsistent with basic human rights. 

[Cihangir]

12:26 PM on 02/05/2011

U.S. politicians may need to hear themselves talk, but they need to realize that, in fact, until they have at least a basic knowledge of the Arab World and understand the need to change our policies across the region, we will have no constructive role to play. We can threaten to withhold aid and make more demands, but the wiser course might be to simply assert our principles and take a more humble back seat role. The Egyptians in Tahrir Square may cheer our pulling the plug on their president, but they won't be cheering for us. When the dust settles, if our regional policies are still the same, Arab anger at those policies and us will not have changed either.

Dr. James J. Zogby

[Electrum 01]

12:48 PM on 02/05/2011

I commend you on actually studying and learning some facts.

I think though, that the assumption that Egypt would institute Sharia is unfounded. Also, the interpretation of the Koran is widely divergent. One could read the bible and draw similar inferences.

[VikingQuest]

11:23 AM on 02/05/2011

Yeah, I just don't see it.

The left and the right all have their own little dream of the Middle East not being a disaster like it has been for 1000s of years.

I suspect we'll see more Hamas' come to power as these government­s topple.

The best solution, divest our country of anything and everything Middle East because if we want a stable economy, we need to not depend on anything from them.

[Electrum 01]

12:50 PM on 02/05/2011

That ship sailed a long time ago. Like it or not, we must engage the Middle East and the Islamic world. Our fates are intertwined.

[justitia]

01:04 PM on 02/05/2011

"The best solution, divest our country of anything and everything Middle East because if we want a stable economy, we need to not depend on anything from them. "

I agree with this though I disagree with your other points.

[Mikeystyle]

11:17 AM on 02/05/2011

I like Zakaria but I think he's a bit off. According to Glenn Beck, this is all about fear or something. Northern Africa and even western Europe will be taken over by an Islamic caliphate---because of its alliance with Britain and 1960s rock bands.

http://www.thechicagodope.com/2011/02/05/glenn-beck-demands-war-with-britain/

[VikingQuest]

11:25 AM on 02/05/2011

"this is all about fear or something. Northern Africa"

So I guess you have faith in the Muslim brotherhood then? The same organization that birthed Hamas?

Tunisia and Egypt are in northern Africa right?

[mnkors]

11:52 AM on 02/05/2011

Sure, Israel laways supports right people, like these two:

http://noworldsystem.com/2011/02/05/omar-suleiman-cias-torture-chief-in-egypt/

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/02/gimme_shelter

[justitia]

01:14 PM on 02/05/2011

The situation in Gaza is enough to birth Hamas. By trying to scare people of the rise of a caliphate in Egypt and the rest of Middle East you're also ignoring the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is not leading the uprising in Egypt (but of course it would be naive to say that it's not trying to make the most of it but which is not the same as leading it). Your contempt towards other people's desire and ability to make democracy work in Egypt seems more of a wish for democracy to fail in that country as it won't fit your stereotypes of Arab people. Yes, only anglo-saxons and northern Europeans (Vikings) are capable of democracy. Your user name says it all.

[Electrum 01]

12:55 PM on 02/05/2011

I know your're pulling our chain, man.

Zakaria/Beck...hmmm...who should I believe? A real expert, or a balloon making flatulent noises as it spirals around the room?

[DrJykell]

11:09 AM on 02/05/2011

Don't worry America,,,, your govt will put an end to this attempt at freedom these egyptians are demanding,,,, and they'll claim to love freedom and democracy all the while they end the hopes and dreams of the egyptian ppl who actually believe America would allow an actual democracy next to israel..

Read your history,,, el salvador,,,Equador,, Iran,,, iraq,,, boilivia,,, America will always find a way to replace hope and change back to the safe dictatorship they profit from..
Check this out,,, to understand how the empire protects corporate profits in all those dictatorship nation states--------------- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5875765740178483812#docid=7228369613722932905

[Electrum 01]

12:59 PM on 02/05/2011

We're not that bad, though yes, our leaders have done some bad things in the past. Don't sell us short; we're a decent people with good intentions, and mostly want Egypt to be free and democratic. We sometimes let our leaders act on behalf of the business community rather than the interests of our own people, but we're working on that.

[JPMP]

10:56 AM on 02/05/2011

And what's the difficulty:

1) how can brown savages deal with democracy? or

2) how can democracy work in the Middle East since it doesn't seem to work anywhere else?

[dissanayake]

11:16 AM on 02/05/2011

To: JPMP....Who are you calling a "Brown Savage" ?

Assuming this derogative term is levelled at the Journalist and intellectual referred to- in the hadlines, Mr Fareed Zakaria, a highly educated and intertnationally respected individual- It is no surprise that the Middle East and South east Asians have such contempt for the Westerners,considered to be generally poorly educated, boorish,and not to be trusted'

[JohnSawyer]

01:16 AM on 02/06/2011

I think JPMP is being sarcastic.

[Jimmy MO]

09:39 AM on 02/05/2011

Everyone keeps talking about the the hope for democracy in Egypt after Mubarak finally steps down, but will that happen? Or will religious forces take hold and create an even less Democratic society. Regardless of what religion we're talking about, government's based on religious doctrine are rarely bastions of freedom. I certainly hope Egypt in different, because if it can succeed there it could very well lead to democracy reforms throughout the Middle East.

[unity13]

09:34 AM on 02/05/2011

I have wondered the same thing myself. Citizens United and Big Ag's determination to contaminate our soil, air, water and food should have provoked demonstrations if not riots. I do fault the news media to a degree, if they would spend half their time on important issues that affect all of us instead of celebrity rehab or divorces, many people wouldn't be so ignorant and apathetic.