Except for Libya, in most Arab countries where a popular uprising has occurred, people have refused any sort of foreign military intervention to topple their authoritarian governments. Apart from Libya too, the West has been reluctant to intervene militarily to help ‘spread democracy' in the Middle East. This is seen by many as a clear departure from the tendency which prevailed in western policies a decade earlier.
Ten years ago, Britain and the US in particular were too enthusiastic to intervene anywhere, anytime, at any instance to protect their common interests and values. Influential voices in the two countries went as far as to call for a return to colonialism by modern states to mop up the problems caused by pre-modern or failed states. Right- wing historian, Robert Conquest, called for an Anglosphere, a union of English-speaking nations with Anglo values, to be constructed in the world, to promote order, peace and progress. Anglo-Canadian press magnate, Conrad Black, along similar lines, called for enlarging the ‘zone of democracy'. Less than a decade ago, Anglo-Saxonism, empire, the ‘white man's burden', and Christianity's civilising mission, were the rage in Britain and America.
The argument was put simple and easy: there are ‘failed', ‘rogue' and ‘weak' states in the world that are, in varying ways, brutalising and killing their own people, disrupting regional stability, and exporting violence to the civilised world. In such cases, it is the moral duty of successful states, such as Britain and the US, to intervene in a variety of ways, including militarily, and even pre-emptively, to ensure that humanitarian crises are brought to an end, that good government is restored or implanted, and that order reigns.
Robert Conquest and, even more, the American internet entrepreneur, James C. Bennett, enthused about the importance of Anglo-Saxon democracy and the benefits of exporting it to the rest of the world. The establishment of an ‘English-Speaking Union' to promote and impose democracy if necessary is therefore needed. "We are… the main bastion against the various barbarisms that have reared their heads so devastatingly in the past half century," Conquest argued. However, this is not a racial union but one based on a "shared commitment to concepts of law and liberty". Conquest wanted such a union to ‘define political civilisation' and open up "the world to joint solutions of economic and social problems". The union would transform "politically backward areas and creat[e] the conditions for a genuine world community," founded on the assimilation of Anglo-Saxon values.
Pragmatism
Such voices have been eclipsed by the failure in Iraq to promote democracy or at least restore order and stability after the removal of Saddam Hussain's regime. The golden opportunity presented by the uprisings in the Arab world to advance the cause of democracy did not hence create much interest in Washington. Compared to the costly intervention in Iraq, for example, the US was reluctant to pay the price to further the cause of democracy in various parts of the Arab world.
In fact, President Barack Obama has not been particularly interested in the kind of rhetoric which featured prominently under his predecessor and focused on democratic change in the Middle East. This trend reflected a return to ‘pragmatism' in US foreign policy.
In Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and even in Libya, Washington seemed to have been quite content with the status quo and was forced to adjust its policy only when it became absolutely clear that change is inevitable. Absorbed with internal problems and preoccupied with re-establishing America's leadership abroad, Obama's utmost priorities were to resuscitate the US economy and end two unnecessary wars in the Greater Middle East, i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan. Interest in democracy promotion was hence lacking.
But change has not only affected western policies in the Middle East. In the Arab world too people are no longer yearning for outside help to end authoritarian rule and bring about more representative governments. Arab people are now absolutely convinced that they can make the future by their own hands and that they are capable of changing their destiny without the assistance of the "civilised" world. Iraq and Libya have shown how catastrophic foreign military intervention is. One must also acknowledge that the ongoing Arab revolutions are not even inspired by the outside. They are completely local and are likely to produce an Arab version of democracy.
Dr Marwan Al Kabalan is a lecturer in media and international relations at Damascus University's Faculty of Political Science and Media in Syria.
