If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Islam -- not Marxism, socialism, nor liberalism or nationalism -- is the only authentic ideology indigenous to the Arab world. Unlike the West, the Arab world has not undergone a reformation separating religion and state, and religion continues to play a major role in Arab society.
Watching the 2012 campaign unfold from a distance, it is clear to me that the American political system has become ridiculous at a time when we really need it to work.
People call him "The Godfather of the new Islamist Middle East." Rachid Ghannouchi, whose Ennahdha party won Tunisia's first free elections last November, does indeed spearhead the post-Arab Spring Middle East.
The optimism generated by the Arab spring is now giving way to anxieties about where these changes are taking Arab societies. The idealism of the you...
"People thought: you get democracy, you get jobs," Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki explained to us, as he described the fragility and urgency of the situation facing his government.
A Tunis court announced that Nabil Karoui, director of Nessma TV, will go on trial for airing the French animated movie Persepolis, a disturbing turn for the nascent Tunisian democracy.
Contrary to this recent pessimism, there is strong reason to believe that the Arab spring will spread in the short term and succeed over the longer term.
While movies can instantly transport us to mythical lands to far off islands and from futuristic cities to places yet to be discovered, the journey doesn't have to end when the credits roll.
Arab opinion matters. It clearly matters to the West, which has long ignored Arab sentiment. But the views of the public matter within the region as well. The sooner leaders listen and learn, the sooner change can occur.
Participatory democracy in the Age of Information has turned out to be no more participatory than it ever was in states undergoing the transition from dictatorship and repression.
As the birthplace of the Arab Spring and the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to oust its multi-decade dictator, Tunisia has taken the regional lead in reconstituting its government.
Come November, Americans will have a choice: staying the course or voting for change. The question voters will face is, "Will the alternative be change we can truly believe in?"
Next year will be a difficult one. It is then a dangerous year after the change, unless the powers of modernity and enlightenment change course and surprise us with feats that would restore our hope in the Arab awakening.
If the most important legacy of 1848 was the rise nationalism in Europe, the insurgencies of 2011 could start igniting similar pressures in the Middle East and even in Europe in 2012 as disillusionment with the promise of change starts setting in.
Ex-President George W. Bush, Peru's ex-President Alejandro Toledo, and Bolivia's ex-President Jorge Quiroga are all important public figures who are dealing with managing their status as former heads of state.
When citizens are silenced, fraud and corruption from the financial sector to building safety, go unchecked with disastrous consequences for economy and society. This year the world has been rocked by a Tunisian fruit seller who refused to let his voice go unheard.
