Structured 7

Paul Ropp

                                         Structural Response week 7

            In the United States we have a republic, and not just any old republic; The Grande Olde Republic; an ode to all that is good and righteous in the world, standing above all else, especially those shady autocratic regimes of the MENA region; Simply put the one democracy to rule them all. But what, if anything, separates the US political system from that of any other country, are we really so perfect, and has it always been that way?

            Well, in reality the US like any other state and has had its fair share of atrocities, from slavery, Indian Removal Acts, internment camps, and general electoral hogwash due to massive political corruption. So in reality the MENA region is not as far behind the westernized world as we would think. Although, there are some benefits to the modern state of US politics it is not without failings; Super-Pacs running amuck, closed door deals, and a sense of autonomy are all things that US citizens contend with from time to time, depending on who is in charge and where, of course. However, as you can see the US and the MENA region are not so different. In the US there is a harsh division between conservatives and liberals one that mirrors the religious and the secularists in the MENA region. Both camps hold devote beliefs that cannot be compromised by discourse, although the exact beliefs may be different, you won’t see a conservative and a liberal compromise on abortion, any more than MENA region religious groups and secularist groups agreeing on comprehensive education reform. Moreover, in the US, specifically conservative states there is an outrage to the promulgation of creationism as a scientific theory, as well as the altering of text books to teach the children comparable to their religious upbringing. The idea that history should, or even can be altered to fit the agenda of a fundamentalist group is outrageous to the Liberal, and even the moderate spectrum of society. The problem of cleaning up history is also underway by fundamentalist Muslims who destroy pre-Islamic cave drawings, as they depict “blasphemous” images. In reality the political spectrum of the US and MENA region countries only differs by the brand of extremism, Muslim instead of Christian. Although, there is one difference between the US and MENA regions that shouldn’t be overlooked due to its massive importance which is a governments need for legitimacy.

            In the MENA region the different political climate and deep sectarian divisions allow the government to maintain a sense of autonomy to play one side against the other and to steer public rhetoric in such fashion. In the US, both citizens and countries around the world watch the US government with a critical eye. Although there are divisions in US society there are at some point superficial, when another government, or the US government threaten the “US” way of life, that comfort and rights US citizens enjoy there would be a unified uproar, but in that sense the US political spectrum differs dramatically from the MENA region. When one delves into US history you can see similarities to what is happening in the MENA region now.

            As Cavatorta points out there is a general theory map that countries follow when changing from a regime to a democracy. First the opening, a point where the regime will become a little more liberalized due to any one of innumerable factors. Secondly “the breakthrough” this is the point where the old regime collapses. Thirdly is “consolidation” of the new government. Although this theory is imperfect it gives a general road map to compare the US and the MENA region through historical analysis and civil society movements in the US. In the United States the importation of slaves was abolished in 1808, paving the way to the, highly criticized Emancipation proclamation, and to the civil rights movements of the late 20^th century. In the US African Americans participated in both violent and non-violent protests against the US government’s repression of their rights as human beings. Now what is truly comparable is that the US gave way to the immense public pressure and granted African Americans their rights.

            Now what is important to realize here is that civil society activists in the US were unified and the government needed to maintain its legitimacy which it could easily have lost in such a tumultuous time. Civil society movements in the MENA region will fare well if and only if they can unify society over a bigger issue and not play into sectarian conflict, such as the Egyptian revolution. The one and only large obstacle in the way of MENA region civil society is the ability to from a single cohesive social unit, granted it won’t be easy due to those pesky European Picket-Sykes and Balfour agreements. Although circumstance has placed the MENA region in a particularly hard place for the emergence of a full blown and well-oiled civil society machined, it is not an impossible task and will just take motivated civil society actors, time, and a unification of MENA region societies.