Democracy for the Middle East?

THERE has been a great deal of talk these days about the notion of “statehood” throughout the Middle East. There is talk about a Palestinian “state” and an Iraqi “state”, but little or no information as to the method in which it will be implemented or whether the “foreign publics” as Arabs are referred to will embrace it. Perhaps the U.S. and Great Britain will deem the method as unclassified for a future date, including informing the American public whether they have found weapons of mass destruction that justified the war on Iraq. However, what we do know is that the method of choice for the present Administration and its neo-conservative elites is to adopt an aggressive military foreign policy perspective aimed at fostering perpetual peace among other well-established representative governments and “possible” future representative governments in Palestine and Iraq. Nonetheless, the “foreign publics” or the Arab populations are noticeably exempted from current foreign policy calculations. In addition to current anti-American sentiment, based on the perception that the U.S. have not adequately address pervasive Arab suffering, the Arab population will be left to adjust to current geopolitical realities that are not within their control. The central question, then, becomes whether the Arab population will have a direct impact upon a democratic form of government in their states.

The American representative form of government is a product of a European social experience, whereby European immigrants, principally from Great Britain, valued individual liberties and scorned Christian religious persecution. The American democratic experience sanctions a tangible separation of religion and government, whereby it remains neutral on religious principles. As far as the American social experience is concerned, religion is a private affair that should not conflict with secular law. Unlike the European social experience that led to the creation of a political society that imperfectly responds to the rule of law, the Arab social experience has not experienced such a separation of religious principles from the rule of law, thereby Arab society has never recognized a state that they have found to be legitimate. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Arab society experienced failed attempts by their governments to institute a secular way of life stripped of religious principles based on the Holy Qu’ran and the Sunna of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Many Muslims in the Middle East support an expanding role for Islam and religious leaders in the political life of their countries and a growing percentage of Muslims see secularism serious threats to Islam. 80% of the residents of the Palestinian Authority doubt the opinion that a way can be found for the state of Israel to exist so that the rights and needs of the Palestinian people can be met. In 20 of 21 populations surveyed, including those of Western Europe, a large majority believe that the United States favor Israel over the Palestinians too much. Fully 71% of Palestinians say they don’t regard secular leaders as those who can “do the right thing in world affairs”. Therefore, support for freedom and a strong Islamic presence in politics go hand in hand; this survey includes the populations of Pakistan, Jordan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Mali. Surprisingly, a large majority of Muslim populations believe that democracy is “not just for the West” and that it can work in their countries.

Because geopolitical structures and processes – “states” – reflect Western experience and moral prerogatives, their usefulness for the interpretation of political behavior in the Middle East is very limited. Political identity is more flexible in the Middle East and therefore not strictly based on secular laws. The concept and practice of the “state” has not to date been able to eradicate transnational mechanisms for preserving unity and transmitting sociopolitical values. Therefore the only form of democracy available for the Middle East cannot be based on what we currently experience in the U.S. and Europe.

(The writer is a recent revert to Islam and can be contracted at: drummondhugh@verizon.net)