August 03, 2013 12:21 AM
By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star
STORY SUMMARY
Hold on to your seats, for the four most powerful and influential Arab countries – Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – are all experiencing significant, sometimes violent, internal changes that touch on the most basic elements of identity, power and national authority.
Syria, Iraq and Egypt embody the leading political challenges the Arab world faces: how to shape a stable and equitable pluralistic society; how to achieve an acceptable balance of authority among military and civilian forces; and how to assert religious values in daily and public life without falling into the trap of theocratic autocracy or artificially imposed secularism from above.
God or the gun, in fact, is really only basic choice that Arab citizens have faced in recent generations, and it is both unfair and unworkable.
Egypt now reveals the determination of tens of millions of typical Arab citizens seeking that elusive middle ground between gun and God, which is simply pluralistic citizenship and accountable governance under the rule of law.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2013/Aug-03/226085-the-epic-arab-trek-between-god-and-gun.ashx#ixzz2aw0pjxS4
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria
All this may be true, but do not under-estimate that some outside interest fueled the ‘revolutions’ to create disorder. Yes, that does not mean we can only blame the outsiders, Arabs should not have fallen for the trick to fight each other instead of progressing for the benefit of all.