Reflection 4

One big thing that happened this week in the MENA region that shows the impact of civil society on the region was the recognition as recipient of the prestigious PEN Pinter International Writer of Courage Award to Samar Yazbek. She wrote a memoir chronicling the 1^st month of the Syrian revolution against Bashar Al-Assad.

Yazbek, who is an alawite, a member of the same sect as Al-Assad’s family, was disowned by her family for taking a stance against the Regime. Her book was dedicated to the martyrs of the uprising and those still fighting against the ruling regime. Not only does the presence of a recognized alawite give legitimacy to the uprising as it shows that even members of his own sect can see Al-Assad’s wrongdoings but it also inspires those taking part in the Revolution. She was disowned, therefore she sacrificed part of herself already for the uprising. She fought amongst them as an alawite, showing that the uprising unites Syria against the regime and she was recognized on the World Stage where she dedicated to those that sacrificed for the Revolution and those that still do. Inspiring them to fight harder and see the end of the authoritarian regime in place.

The whole Syrian conflict and, of course to a greater extent, the Arab Spring shows profoundly the importance of civil society in the MENA region. After all, it is these civil societies that decided that they had had enough of the status quo of authoritarian regimes and pretty much organized the uprising themselves giving credence to the idea that a government only governs at the sufferance of the people. Of course the help of a few foreign government here and there did not hurt either but for the most part the uprisings were a result of the people’s actions thus illustrating the importance of civil society.

Perhaps, the situation is a warning to all governments, authoritarianism can be carried out however after a certain point the people will decide that enough is enough and the authoritarian leader and/or regime will be forced to concede their hard gained power. Maybe authoritarian regimes and regimes with strong oppression in other parts of the world (North Korea, Iran, Russia, Thailand, Singapore) survive for a couple of reasons: lack of viable alternatives, ingrained cultural indoctrination in the case of North Korea, and in the case of Singapore where I lived for 3 years good governance, showing that one does not need to be a full democracy in order to run an efficient well governed country and perhaps, making us consider whether democracy is such an ideal situation especially when a country is unstable and needs a strong powerful government like the current state of the MENA region. What they are currently doing in Singapore now is relinquishing, albeit slowly, their hold on power so as to make it more of a democracy now that a strong authoritarian regime is not needed as Singapore is currently a stable, modern, economic power. Maybe that is the model that countries in the MENA region, emerging from the Arab Spring, should take into account.