There have been lots of attempts at democratic revolutions in the Arab world too, but the good guys keep losing. In most of the Arab countries there are three choices: the dreadful statusquo, or democracy – or Islam. I just observe that in the Arab world, unlike elsewhere, two alternative routes out from the existing oppression are on offer to the public. Equality and its political expression, democracy, are human values, but for historical reasons it is easy for Islamists to portray political democracy as an alien, ‘Western’ value. The problem resides in the Arab world, where the political climate has only two seasons: brief springs and very long winters.

Source: The Nation December 21, 2020 00:45 UTC