Is Democracy Stirring In The Arab World? :: Middle East News and Perspectives

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December 16, 2004

Is Democracy Stirring In The Arab World?

Topics: Middle East News and Perspectives

Are upcoming elections in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories initial steps on still rocky paths to democracy or are they first steps toward first steps on the road to disaster? These are questions that we have to just wait and see how things turn out over the long haul to peace through democracy. A lot depends on whether or not the population of these countries is up to the task. Another important factor is of course those mindless, violent, dredges of the earth that are collectively known as the adherents of radical Islam. These questions jump out at you in the following article from the Christian Science Monitor (Cairo):

Over the next two months, three of the Arab world's most troubled polities will hold elections, an unprecedented flurry of democratic activity in a region that has long been marked by dictatorship, corrupt governments, and conflict.

Millions of votes could set a precedent for a continuing process of elections and a gradual political opening, and at least will send a rare ray of light into a politically cloistered world where public attitudes are difficult to gauge and citizens rarely have a chance to pass judgment on their leaders.

(Click on image to enlarge-NEW VOTERS: Iraqi women read registration forms for the Jan. 30 Iraqi election, which officials say will go ahead despite continued violence).

But analysts also say that the elections in the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq - each for local reasons - will be less a triumph for democracy than a tentative step on an arduous path to change littered with obstacles and with few previous examples of success to build on. Read More...