Reality of the American democratic invasion of Arab states [Archives:2008/1168/Opinion]
Najeeb Al-Gurbani
Amid structural changes in the international political system, political regimes in the Arab world have changed into a tool for control, organization and management. Evidence on the ground indicates that the status of Arab regimes has deteriorated despite the fact that the level of deterioration varies from a state to another.
Had we but attributed this deterioration to the accumulative developments, such increased popular awareness, influence of educated elites, literacy rates in societies and expansion of the middle class, we would have realized that the international environment is the most important factor in restricting political systems.
The international environment turned to play a key role in restricting political systems, particularly under the current situation of the new international system following collapse of the Soviet Union and socialist systems. This led many political systems to fail. But on the other hand, it was a victory for the democratic example, which the successive American administrations asserted by instigating the Arab regimes to promote and apply it in their territories.
Democratic violations and human rights abuses in the Arab states, as well as the third world countries, exposed governments to harsh criticism, specifically at international conferences. The U.S. President W Bush says, “Foreign policy can not be separated from the moral principles in which the majority of Americans are involved. We can not ignore the style via which the other governments treat their citizens.”
The U.S. president was also quoted as saying that openness and political plurality will facilitate the move from violence to conflict settlement, as well as international stability and security.
Bush confirmed that democracies are doing a better task in protecting racial and religious minorities while elections may help in settling civil wars that lead to fragmentation of nations. Having a glance at Bush's words, it has been made apparent that the U.S., which is dominating the monopole, makes out of democracy and human rights an international legitimacy.
Many Arab states have dragged after these slogans and applied them due to various motives. The adaptation of democracy and human rights varied from one state to another because of several factors including the economic situation, the degree of security exposition and states' extreme involvement in international interactions. Democracy has grown in the Arab states via allowing political participation and conducting general elections.
On the other hand, the great American scholar Samuel Huntington ascertained in his desertification entitled “collision of civilizations” that the European and American efforts for the sake of expanding and promoting democracy achieved limited success, specifically in the Arab and Muslim nations.
During the international conference on human rights in Vienna, the westerners imposed their moral and cosmological concept of human rights, as well as the western hypothesis stating that 'democratically elected governments will be allies with the westerners and collaborate with them.'
This quoted statement is not true because elections turned to bring to power patriots and fundamentalists, who are hostile with the west. And, after policy makers discovered this, they turned to exert great effort to influence the elections. They are not enthusiastic about defending democracy in non-western communities.
Source: Al-Tagheer.com
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