Democracy creeping into Muslim conversations
Amir Taheri:
"While a section of the Western media continues to predict an 'explosion of the Arab street,' it is possible that Arab, and Muslim politics in general, may be seeking other, more institutionalized, forms of expression. Starting this year, the Muslim world has witnessed a string of conferences, all devoted to the issue of democratization.
"Some of these conferences, in Kuala-Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, in Istanbul, Turkey’s cultural and business center, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and in the Egyptian Mediterranean port of Alexandria, for example, have come out with clear statements that democratic reform is the only way for out for Muslim nations caught in 'an historic quagmire....'
"This is not the first time that Muslims identify democracy as a panacea for their political, social and cultural ills. Many such conferences were held in the19 th and20 th centuries which also witnessed the short-lived victory of democratic forces in both Turkey and Iran. By the mid-1950s, however, there were hardly any genuine democrats in the Muslim world.
"The intellectual and political life in most Muslim countries was dominated either by Marxist or other advocates of leftist totalitarianism or conservative religious forces. In the1960 s and1970 s the left, including its nationalist version, was in the ascendancy in most Muslim countries. From the late1970 s onward, however, Islamism, in its different versions, emerged as the dominant political force especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
"The speedy collapse of the Taleban in Kabul and the Baath in Baghdad, in 2002 and 2003, however, opened a new chapter in which advocates of democratization may have an opportunity to address the broader audiences at least in some Muslim countries.
"The reason for this is not hard to guess.
"The Ba’ath regime in Baghdad represented the most radical version in the Muslim world of leftist nationalism inspired by both Nazism and Communism. If anybody could have created the Arab nationalist Utopia it was Saddam Hussein. But he ended up in a hole near Takrit. The Taleban regime for its part represented the ultimate 'must' in Islamism. No one could claim to be more Islamist than Mulla Muhammad Omar. But he, too, ended up hiding in a hole in Arzangan.
"There is a growing sentiment in the Muslim world that their political systems have reached a deadend and that the only way out is some form of democratization. The old debate on whether Islam is compatible with democracy is hardly engaged these days. The issue now is the necessity of democracy for Muslims rather than its compatibility with Islam. Even the most conservative of Muslim regimes are now committed to the creation of elected organs of government.
...
"It is interesting to see turbaned mullas discussing Locke and Tocqueville in television talk-shows beamed from 'holy' cities. And to hear military dictators donning the habit of champions of democracy is more than just amusing. Even the traditional rulers and the Stalinist-style state-owned radio and television networks still in place, now speak of elections, human rights, equality for women, and, ultimately, democracy.
...
"Muslim politics as limited to palaces, barracks, mosques, and streets has led to what must be regarded as the most glaring collective failure for any group of nations in history. It is, perhaps, time to envisage other institutions, notably political parties, Parliaments and law courts as the focal points of political life in the Muslim world."
Amir Taheri:
"While a section of the Western media continues to predict an 'explosion of the Arab street,' it is possible that Arab, and Muslim politics in general, may be seeking other, more institutionalized, forms of expression. Starting this year, the Muslim world has witnessed a string of conferences, all devoted to the issue of democratization.
"Some of these conferences, in Kuala-Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, in Istanbul, Turkey’s cultural and business center, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and in the Egyptian Mediterranean port of Alexandria, for example, have come out with clear statements that democratic reform is the only way for out for Muslim nations caught in 'an historic quagmire....'
"This is not the first time that Muslims identify democracy as a panacea for their political, social and cultural ills. Many such conferences were held in the19 th and20 th centuries which also witnessed the short-lived victory of democratic forces in both Turkey and Iran. By the mid-1950s, however, there were hardly any genuine democrats in the Muslim world.
"The intellectual and political life in most Muslim countries was dominated either by Marxist or other advocates of leftist totalitarianism or conservative religious forces. In the1960 s and1970 s the left, including its nationalist version, was in the ascendancy in most Muslim countries. From the late1970 s onward, however, Islamism, in its different versions, emerged as the dominant political force especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
"The speedy collapse of the Taleban in Kabul and the Baath in Baghdad, in 2002 and 2003, however, opened a new chapter in which advocates of democratization may have an opportunity to address the broader audiences at least in some Muslim countries.
"The reason for this is not hard to guess.
"The Ba’ath regime in Baghdad represented the most radical version in the Muslim world of leftist nationalism inspired by both Nazism and Communism. If anybody could have created the Arab nationalist Utopia it was Saddam Hussein. But he ended up in a hole near Takrit. The Taleban regime for its part represented the ultimate 'must' in Islamism. No one could claim to be more Islamist than Mulla Muhammad Omar. But he, too, ended up hiding in a hole in Arzangan.
"There is a growing sentiment in the Muslim world that their political systems have reached a deadend and that the only way out is some form of democratization. The old debate on whether Islam is compatible with democracy is hardly engaged these days. The issue now is the necessity of democracy for Muslims rather than its compatibility with Islam. Even the most conservative of Muslim regimes are now committed to the creation of elected organs of government.
...
"It is interesting to see turbaned mullas discussing Locke and Tocqueville in television talk-shows beamed from 'holy' cities. And to hear military dictators donning the habit of champions of democracy is more than just amusing. Even the traditional rulers and the Stalinist-style state-owned radio and television networks still in place, now speak of elections, human rights, equality for women, and, ultimately, democracy.
...
"Muslim politics as limited to palaces, barracks, mosques, and streets has led to what must be regarded as the most glaring collective failure for any group of nations in history. It is, perhaps, time to envisage other institutions, notably political parties, Parliaments and law courts as the focal points of political life in the Muslim world."
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