The upheaval of the Arab nations around the Mediterranean sea is putting an end to the common European prejudices towards Arabs and Muslims. Since too many decades, the European governments had considered as normal the despotic regimes and the poverty which oppressed these people. Easy justifications where offered, presumably rooted in misinterpretations of Islam and of the Arab culture. We heard from European political leaders that Islam was not compatible with freedom, neither free market nor democracy. Arab despots have been more than happy to uphold this fake cultural interpretation: they would also pretend that they protected the Arab world and Europe from being overtaken by Radical Islamists. Starting in Tunisia, followed by Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Algeria, Syria, Libya, the Arab crowds clearly reject all these stereotypes. What these revolutionary crowds demand is crystal clear: democracy and economic progress. Both are interrelated as the Arab people would not be able to build a sustainable democracy without prosperity and prosperity depends on the rule of law.
Democracy, rule of law, free market, free trade, entrepreneurship are not alien concepts in the Arab world: they need not to be imported from Europe.
Islam after all is the only global religion which has been founded by a merchant; moreover the ancient Muslim nations were ruled not by despots only but by the rule of law or Sharia as well.
Thus, the current state of the Arab world cannot be explained neither by Islam nor by the Arab culture: the current military tyrannies actually are the consequences of the decolonization wars in the 1960s, and poverty has been the outcome of the Soviet economic model influence at the time of decolonization.
Why did the Arab revolution happen now? Since many years, Arab scholars and social leaders were asking for democracy but to no avail. This time is different because of the influence of Globalization and the new media: the same universal values are propagated around the world through internet and the so-called social media. It is significant that the images of Mohamed Bouazizi , the young entrepreneur who committed suicide in Tunisia last December went instantaneously viral throughout the Arab world. In a matter of days , all the young Arabs could identify themselves with Bouazizi.
It is significant as well that the public demonstrations which toppled the Tunisian and Egyptian leadership were organized via Facebook.
Thus, can we compare the Arab revolutions with the liberation of Central Europe in 1989 and beyond? Yes , to a certain extent , we can. In the name of universal values, such as political and economic liberty, the Arabs are fighting against the occupation of their lands by military forces (in contrast with Central Europe, these forces are indigenous but military nonetheless).
Like the people of Central Europe, the Arabs are struggling against pervert ideologies: Radical Islamism, Oriental stereotypes, Statist economy.
The Arab revolutionary process will take time and meet the resistance of the despots associated with their cronies. For us Europeans, the time has come to redeem former diplomatic misbehaviors: Arab democrats need our support. It will be our common interest to join forces for a stable, democratic and thriving Mediterranean region. True enough, this new European diplomacy is easier to define than to implement: we need to identify those who most represent the aspirations of the new Arab world, without interfering in these national democratization processes. Central Europe could be more than helpful as it went through a similar history without carrying the stigma of being a former colonial power.
