Opinion | Columnists
Arab neo-liberals repeat West's mistakes
They are alienating themselves from the masses they're supposed to be seeking to enlighten and adopt fringe causes usually disregarded by the mainstream public.
- By Ahmad Mustafa, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:08 April 14, 2008
- Image Credit: Illustration: Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
One of the significant features of April 6, a chaotic day in Egypt, was the disappearance of all liberals from the public scene as if what was going on is irrelevant to what they preach.
Whether the call by "some activists" for a general strike, leading to civil disobedience, in the country to protest escalating economic hardships for the majority and political oppression was successful or not is not a matter of discussion.
The most important fact is that there was a move - even if the security apparatus of the Egyptian state managed to limit its impact. Such a move was expected to be an opportunity for the liberal forces to show that their deeds match their words, which did not happen.
The case in Egypt is an example of the rest of the Arab world, where liberals, or neo-liberals to be specific, assumed the role of change in recent years.
Since the events of 9/11 and subsequent military and cultural campaigns in the region, the West was optimistic about the rise of a neo-liberal movement, parallel with the neo-conservative cabal in Washington.
Not only in the Middle East, but that was sought also in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America. Neo-liberals in other parts of the world led "coloured" regime changes - the so-called orange revolution in Ukraine for example - supported by the US and the West.
But in the Middle East no colours were effective and the proclaimed "democratisation" process by the US faltered down.
Arab neo-lib faded quickly and did not witness the rise and fall of the neo-con cabal in Washington. The only "rise" they enjoyed was their vocal adoption of Transformen Americana in some media outlets, not much penetrating the masses. So why is Arab liberal movement not successful, and what analogies can be drawn between it and the neoconservatives in US?
First, liberal movement in the region goes back to even before the era of national liberation and independence in the mid-20th century. Pioneer figures were totally different in all aspects from today's liberals; that is why it might be right to call the current neoliberals.
Conservatism in America goes back to old years, but the neoconservatives, who were behind all the ill-fated policies of President George W. Bush started to rise in Ronald Reagan years, through George Bush Sr and Bill Clinton reigns until they dominated the current administration.
With the rise of political Islam in the region more than three decades ago, neoliberals identified themselves as a secular force propagating modernisation against that trend.
The public associated them with Americanisation and Westernisation attitudes, strongly resisted as a means of subjugation and humiliation. The neoliberals are mostly ex-leftists who were already unpopular among the masses, and they alienated themselves more by turning 180 degrees from what they used to preach before.
Ordinary people question the genuine beliefs of those who switched overnight from anti-imperialism and the struggle against capitalism to defenders of American policies and pro-Israel.
Right or wrong, ordinary people in Arab streets became more and more sceptical about the neo-lib elite who did not explore the best approach to reach the masses and kept their discourse elitist and targeting the ruling regimes or the foreign media.
For that and other reasons, the West could not do much to help them. Not only because the West still has good channels with the ruling regimes but because neo-lib backing was more or less dependent on the influence of the neo-con, which dwindled in the second Bush term.
As one journalist who attended a "progressive" gathering in Cairo last month put it: "The Sixth Cairo Conference and Social Forum, an annual event organised by a coalition of Trotskyists, Nasserists and Muslim Brothers convened from March 27-30.
In 2008, as in 2007, workers addressed audiences comprised largely of Muslim Brothers and secular intellectuals, including foreigners. Some Egyptian leftists and progressives shy away from this event.
They do not want to be associated with the Muslim Brothers. Others reject its rather simple-minded notion of "resistance" against Zionism and imperialism, one that embraces any and all forms of armed struggle".
Elitist approach
Arab neo-liberals are repeating the traditional mistakes of the left, alienating themselves from the masses they're supposed to be seeking to enlighten and adopt fringe causes usually disregarded by the mainstream public.
Their elitist approach and association with the regimes is further weakening their impact, and reliance on the backing of the "democratic West" reinforces people's perception that they are part of the change they see in Iraq and elsewhere, coloured in "blood red" and not "democratic orange".
For the last notion in particular, people associate Mideast neo-lib with American neo-con.
Dr Ahmad Mustafa is a London-based Arab writer.
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