2011 Egyptian Revolution
2011 Libyan Civil War
"The 2011 Libyan civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in the North African state of Libya being fought between those seeking to depose the country's de facto ruler Muammar Gaddafi and hold democratic elections,[28][29] and pro-Gaddafi forces. The situation began as a series of peaceful protests which Gaddafi's security services attempted to repress, beginning on 15 February 2011. Within a week, this uprising had spread across the country and Gaddafi was struggling to retain control.[30] Gaddafi responded with military force and other such measures as censorship and blocking of communications.
The situation then escalated into armed conflict, with rebels establishing a coalition named the Transitional National Council based in Benghazi. The International Criminal Court warned Gaddafi that he and members of his government may have committed crimes against humanity".
What we are witnessing is popular uprisings against authoritarian regimes that begin as nonviolent protests. The protestors have shown personal courage and have faced down government troops as well as a very real threat of retribution from secret police and para military organizations.
Clash of Civilizations?
First, this is a story about popular movements that refused to be terrorized by their own authoritarian governments.
These movements began using cell phone texting and Twitter.
The entire Arab Spring is both understandable and accessible to the American public. They are striving to achieve the basic rights that are familiar to all Americans -- freedom of speech, free elections, and more open economies. Their preferred methods involve the use of social media and non violent protest. But they shown personal courage as they have been frequently and severely tested by repressive regimes.
Victory over Terror
This is much too big to discuss in any depth in this post. The main point being that it is impossible to find this type of social movement terrifying in the least.
It is a huge opportunity to align ourselves with a political movement that is both consistent with our values and appears to be unstoppable. For too long, Americans have framed their views of the Mid East through either the Cold War or the Israel conflicts.
We now have a fresh chance to reevaluate our beliefs and policies. Lets not waste it.
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Comments
probably thought of this today;
thank you;
note: movements (any) are beginnings
toward a ‘new’ ... what?
Toward a new equilibrium.
I think we had been stuck with a set of policies in the Mid East that created a fairly lengthy equilibrium that provided stability but failed to resolve any number of issues that steadily got worse rather than better.
Not only were things deteriorating but there seemed to be no way to move forward without making things worse short term. Or, if not worse, unstable.
We found ourselves stuck supporting authoritarian regimes that were themselves unstable and incapable of internal reform.
Not unlike Soviet Eastern Europe, the only competing non governmental institutions were religious. Of course, in Eastern Europe, that meant the Catholic Church -- and whatever its flaws, it was familiar with Americans and comforting.
The new 'what' is a sudden destabilization that calls every policy and assumption into question.
First -- it is obvious that the choice isn't between authoritarian dictatorships and radical Islamic states. John McCain explicitly recognized this in Libya -- when questioned about whether the rebels were potential terrorists -- said, no -- they were heros. McCain isn't a 'big thinker' or theorist, and I thought this was a very meaningful comment. That is, the more hawkish Republican leadership included members that were able to instantly and instinctively break with a rigid, widely implicit assumption of our policy -- popular uprising = iran style theocracy or worse.
Right now, the 'new' is simply a condition of fundamental instability that allows for a realignment of the region and our policies that is shockingly optimistic.
The majority of our problems with the remainder of the Middle East stem from the 1970's with both the Cold War and the Arab/Israeli wars the dominant motivation.
The policies became frozen -- in spite of the fact that the underlying causes and motivations are no longer relevant threats.