klaus3974

A quiet revolution has begun in the Arab world; it will be complete only when the last failed dictatorship is voted out.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/dis...=hptextfeature

Spugsy

ah mate, FIFTY views and not a single response....

klaus3974

This only talks about the level of discussion in the forum ;-)

Now, seriously, I think that most of us give a damm about the place where we live. It is not home for us as we cannot get permanent resident and we are only guests.

Shadya

Perhaps there is a word missing in your penultimate sentence...begins with d and ends with t.

shakh your bootie

Curious, isn't it, how seemingly difficult it is for a society to seek freedom, equality and prosperity?

When I was teaching in the UAE, the government used to send busses to collect the students to take them to vote in the {so-called} "elections" for the National Assembly. We were instructed to escort the students to the busses to make sure they went and voted. My class were most disgruntled -

Wallahee, yah deeecher - what if we do not want to vote? Why they force us to make this thing? This is freedom? Allah Khaleekh...

I thought for a while, and decided that they were making a protest vote by not going. I let them go hang at starbucks instead.....

La revolucion non e muerta......

saas

"After the failure of Mr Bush’s efforts to promote democracy, and the debacle in Iraq, Barack Obama has put “respect” rather than “freedom” at the centre of America’s discourse with the Muslim world."

Thats a good start!

I like this Obama bloke, he seems to be getting the "Approach" right.

Klaus, that was actually an interesting article, and to my opinion a pretty realistic statement eventhough it sponsors Iran as holding the best equipped near-to-democratic nation in the Middle East. We dont have to agree with Irans spirit of demoting and illustrating remarks of intolerance towards others, but i'm still quite confused as to why other Arab nations havent followed through like the Persians have. Almost in all fields of business, construction, import, export, engineering, technology, Education, a fine integration of Culture in Modern society, religious schooling, etc etc etc, Iran appears strong and effectively growing eventhough international trading is limited due to sanctions and so on.

There is a religious divide amongst the theocratics of these Muslims Nations based on religious secterianism which is one the key factors which determines their indifferences and then on the other side the political war machine which is not only accelerated by the parties involved but also with the influence of western powers. All in all aligned with the unilateral war lords, kindomship, religious authorities, political campaigners (usually gangsters) and the involvement of propaganda both from the east and west, the middle east has one hell of a long time to shape up and realise their importance to the world, by far possibly as the KEY player to the future.

UAE...on the other hand, may seem like a step in the right direction, a can opener or maybe an eye opener to what may become of the future but i got a terrible feeling in reference to an article i read in THE NATIONAL regarding UAE stepping up security to prevent elements of terror linked groups making UAE the next HUB of a terror campaign (though there is no real evidence of terrorist cells). For some reason SUCCESS has a sharp expiration date in the Middle East!!

StublueKPL

trying to work out where you stand here exactly?

Norm_uk

How about the successful dictatorships like most of the UAE states?

Democracy is only as good as the people voting and running for office...which for most of the middle east would mean a major diaster right now. High rates of unemployment, illiteracy, massive religious influence, tribalism and in fighting would not make for a nice democracy overnight as it seems the US wants for the region. Currently the only country in this region with a democracy most of us would recognise is Israel...and that's the one country many Arabs would like to see vanish so tells us a lot I think.

This will take decades or even centuries...just like it did in Japan, Europe and other democratic societies.

N.

Roadking

I'm still trying to work out what he said...?

Silas Jayne

Looks like we have a Cut n Paster on our hands here.

saas

Stu...Where I stand? I think its worthy to mention the "POTENTIAL" the middle east cradles. I find some joy here but great business opportunities which keep me satisfied determine my need to stay here. I have worked and travelled to various countries around the middle east & asian subcontinent and see great potential as well as thriving economies based on domestic talent with the qualities of hard labour and determined communities. Knowing the skills acquired and resources at their disposal I want to see this region grow independently, free of the fear of growing secterian and political divisions. Free of international embargos, free of lack of consistency in stopping the growth of extreme religious groups which serve a greater purpose for governments to continue the rule of command and slaughter. Until the Middle East can deliver this and have its people confide with each other with possibly the RULE of democracy and fair play...nothing appears to be apparent, quite possibly a risk for us too.


Sorry silas you caught me off-guard with that statement...why on earth would you suggest that? You dont need to qualify nor possess a degree to touch-on or with little substance understand the climax of worldy affairs....a couple of books and some consistency in regular newspapers kinda helps. In fact im a big fan of Authors with the likes of John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Christiano Reveldos, Syed Rizwi, Ian Cobain and a couple of others, who seemingly provide a non-bias coverage of unfolding events as well as their historic purposes.

shakh your bootie

Alas, poor saas. People that read are in a monority on BE. Unless you count 7 days or the mirror as reading material.