STORY SUMMARY

These three options for national change were used this week in the three Arab countries that arguably have had the most impact on the Middle East region in the last century – Syria, Egypt and Palestine.

These different routes to change and stability capture the wider condition of an Arab world still struggling to make the final transition in the century-long trek from colonialism to indigenous authoritarianism to populist democratic legitimacy.

How Syrians transition to a new governance system after the downfall of the Assad regime will determine if this model of national rebirth is one that other Arabs might apply in similar cases where a military regime rules a largely disenfranchised population, as has been common across the Arab world.

The three options of international law and morality, indigenous constitutionalism and armed rebellion that were all on view this week provide a window into both the widespread demands for sovereign and democratic change in the Arab world, and the main methods available to achieve that change.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Dec-01/196792-arabs-ponder-is-it-the-gun-or-the-law.ashx#ixzz2DtP82LDw
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)