Education of Civilizations

Calling the demonstrations and revolts in a few Arab countries an “Arab Spring” is not only a mischaracterization, it is also dangerously misleading. No doubt, the “Arab Street” woke up and asked for its voice to be heard. However, leaders of this awakening were neither aware of nor prepared for where this was going, making it easier on already organized factions to claim control over the direction of events.

The Arabs not only deserve a democracy, they need one. They need to learn it, breathe it, let it flow through their veins before they can claim it a political system or a way of life. Otherwise, this era will be short-lived before other dictators in different forms take over.

The United States in particular, and the West in general, should realize that though they may be able to buy some time riding the recent progressive current of the Arab people, the waves of democracy will not land safely on this region’s shores if they are not properly handled. They would crush it like a hurricane.

The current perspective on this awakening is short sighted. We are refusing to recognize that Isalmists who are cultivating the fruits of the “Spring” will eventually turn the region into a new Afghanistan or Somalia. We were barely able to handle those two countries with a population of less than forty million; can one imagine how we will control a whole region with tenfold that number not counting non-Arab Muslims?

Some have called for a dialogue between civilizations, others for a clash of civilizations. What we need is a two-way education of civilizations.