Arab troubled transitions are normal

May 01, 2013 12:47 AM By Rami G. Khouri

As various countries across the Arab world navigate difficult transitions from former dictatorships to new forms of governance, much remains unclear in terms of exactly how much citizen participation and government accountability will prevail. Egyptians, Tunisians and Libyans are at the most advanced stages of this process, which takes place in slow, plodding manners that include both the sophisticated arguments of cosmopolitan constitutional lawyers along with the crude street confrontations of tribes, gangs and spontaneous gatherings of angry citizens. One of the reasons why this process is so cumbersome and laborious is that – as the past few years have clarified – the Arab world is undertaking this historic reconfiguration of governance systems while also grappling with two other, more fundamental, elements of their national experiences: the nature of statehood and of sovereignty. These issues are usually defined in the very earliest stages of nationhood, and then mildly adjusted in subsequent years. In the context of today’s Arab world, the political transitions being experienced in some countries provide the first ever opportunity for citizens to discuss and agree on the core elements of their statehood and nationhood….To Read More….   

My Take – This man must be delusional.  Kind of like the guy who wondered who would emerge economically as “Master of Europe”, and he worries about this as they’re going bankrupt just as fast as they can.  The difference between Europe and these “transitional” governments coming to “power” in these Muslim countries is that they never had an economy worth shaking a stick at in the first place.  The vast majority of these people live in poverty, they can’t feed themselves, and haven’t been able to do so for years, and they’re broke.  Egypt and Libya are both in serious trouble in more ways than can be enumerated here.  Syria is a disaster and Turkey’s leaders have lost their minds.  Most of the rest of the Muslim world is dying because it is controlled practically, mentally and emotionally by Islam.  As sure a system  as can be devised to keep anyone from excelling because to do so would mean separating themselves from the herd.  In that respect it is just like the socialists of Europe.