Reflection 5- Paul Ropp

Paul Ropp
Reflection 5
During the Skype session Gilbert talked about the idea of NGO’s developing their own interests as many governments of the MENA region have done, and are doing. When Gilbert said that when an NGO develops an identity outside of civil society, it becomes a hamper to the growth and promulgation of civil society, just like when an organization claims organic legitimacy above all the other sections of civil society. Also when an agency begins to identify with a certain core set of values it will focus simply on those things, and perhaps in the process the organization will lose sight of any tangible goal, such as furthering the freedoms and advocacy of civil society, but rather work towards profit or perhaps just become another non-state actor looking to gain power.  An article I read about the ongoing revolution in Syria is what sparked my interest in what Gilbert said.
The title of the Article is “Syria: Rebels losing support among civilians in Aleppo” (Foley). In the article the transformation of a seemingly organized revolution into a jumbled mess of violence and civil strife was laid out. “Many civilians here are losing patience with the increasingly violent and unrecognizable opposition — one that is hampered by infighting and a lack of structure, and deeply infiltrated by both foreign fighters and terrorist groups” (Foley). In the ever deepening conflict the civilian population is becoming ever more despondent of the violence being perpetrated by terrorists, foreign fighter’s, the Syrian military, and even the rebel’s every-day. The conclusion that civil society in Syria wasn't ready for a peaceful uprising, let alone a civil war becomes more apparent with every news article, class discussion, and the link up with Gilbert  It seems that the whole of civil society that was unified at the beginning by their disdain for the current regime have been sucked back into sectarian strife and power struggles; how to go about the war, what policies to pursue, and general chaos have been some of the major sectarian themes. Moreover, it seems that groups are coming into Syria claiming to be the speakers of civil society, the main Syrian factions are disputing that, and the civilians are left along the side lines. In any case the civil society was not yet ready for such a large undertaking against such a powerful regime with powerful allies; however, if the violence against the government continues there might be some deeper more troublesome sectarian issues than the issues before the revolution.
Another interesting point in the article was a quote from a 63 year old taxi driver ““We don’t like Bashar, we don’t the like regime. We want them to go out. But there is an easier way. Kill everybody? Destroy the country just to change the regime? It’s too much,” he said, shaking his head” (Foley). Gilbert said in a very defensive way that violence in not the vestige of change  a slow progression of civil society from the fathoms of disunity to a multifaceted country filled with advocacy groups working to better the whole, and ultimately democratization is what really brings lasting change. I know there has been constant talking about how much more effective non-violent movements are since the documentary on Saudi Arabia’s Green Revolution but it is just such an interesting topic with a wealth of information and something we seem to always come back to in class. Another issue Gilbert discussed was social entrepreneurship which was also intriguing.
The idea that fostering political change when in direct conflict with the states allows you to act reforms in other ways is by no means a silly game, but an incredibly fascinating way to encourage the growth of civil society and the gradual change of public policy. Gilbert takes 10% of his business’s profit and reinvests it in social and political causes, so in a simple way they are declaring an economic war on the government. The social entrepreneurship allows people in the state to be less influenced by the regime and have their own way of making a living; this also comes to terms when this newly acquired wealth is reinvested in social and political causes such as advocacy, or the issues of political reform. In class we didn't really elaborate on this much but it is something I hope to learn more about on my own and perhaps get to know more hands on sometime in the future. Well I would love to continue on this reflection but I have some other pressing matters to attend to; until next time.