There is no doubt at all that getting rid of Arab tyrants and their barbaric regimes is quite a great objective. And we cannot lavish enough praise on those who are hammering in the last nail in the despots' coffins.
But there is an equally important objective for Arab revolutionaries. It is the way they should behave after the fall of the tyrants. History has offered us horrible examples that we should seriously learn from, so that the victory over despotism does not turn into a nightmare for the Arab people.
As we all know, the Afghan mujahideen (fighters) succeeded in toppling the Najibullah regime, which was propped up by the Soviet Union. They also managed to overcome the Soviets themselves, driving them out of Afghanistan. But the Afghan victory over dictatorship at the time did not fetch milk and honey for the Afghan people.
Just as the mujahideen drove out the local and foreign tyrannies, they fell out with each other over the spoils of war, thereby turning the whole country into a horribly bloody battlefield. And instead of helping the war-stricken people, they made thousands more homeless and hungry.
The struggle for power amongst the mujahideen themselves made many Afghans yearn for the old days of despotism. And so, the situation became worse, as new forces began to compete on Afghan soil. As a result of the long, unbearable suffering, the Afghan people had no choice but to accept a new dictatorship — the Taliban movement, which managed to defeat the various mujahideen factions, and seized power.
Some might argue that Taliban was then the best possible solution for the Afghan crisis, as the people suffered immensely and were desperate for any kind of peace. Whereas others refute that by saying the Afghan people toiled very hard not to be ruled by a religious tyranny.
Afghan tragedy
Had the mujahideen not fallen out with each other after the defeat of the Soviet-backed regime, the Taliban would not have come to power.
One should also not forget the terrible Somali experiment, where the people managed to rid themselves of a monstrous dictator — Mohammad Siad Barre, but failed later to build a new democratic state. Instead they were fragmented into factions fighting each other for power. Somalia has since become a glaring example of a failed state.
Therefore, leaders of Arab uprisings should keep in mind what happened to Afghanistan and Somalia after the fall of the dictatorships there. Add to that the fact that many Arab countries can easily fall prey to Afghanisation and Somalisation, as Arab tyrants, especially the so-called pan-Arabists and nationalists, have not built real coherent states over the decades. They tried instead to make their countries arenas for conflicting sects, tribes and clans which hardly trust each other, as this proved to be the best ruse to control their societies.
In other words, they followed the colonialist strategy: divide and rule. That is why we hardly have any real nation states, because our regimes have not created real citizens, but mere sectarianists and tribalists, if not racists.
That is why some Arab countries might fall in the same trap that befell Afghanistan, Somalia, or Yugoslavia, for that matter. And if that, God forbid, happens, will certainly be the best gift to be presented to fallen or falling Arab autocrats who, when cornered, have no qualms at all about dismembering their countries into sectarian and tribal cantons and mini states.
History has taught us that tyrants could sometimes build states with fire and iron for a certain period of time, as did the late Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito. But when the dictator passes away, or falls, the country disintegrates. We have seen how the Soviet Union itself fell apart, and how Yugoslavia was dismembered into many hostile states.
It was also very easy to fragment Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussain, along bloody, sectarian lines, which might be easily repeated in countries that have ethnic, religious and tribal diversity.
That is why it is of paramount importance for Arab revolutionaries to maintain unity after the fall of dictators in order to keep the national fabric intact, and to avoid the Afghan, Somali, Iraqi, Yugoslav, and Soviet traps. They should also remember that there are many international and regional powers which very much want to fill in the vacuum if the dictatorships fall, and the new-comers start fighting each other.
Iran and Turkey would soon support one group against another, which will then make the people the worst losers. Therefore, it is of vital importance for the victors to close ranks after the fall of the old regimes and not compete amongst themselves for power, so that the people will not say then: "we have exchanged pimps with procurers".
Dr Faisal Al Qasim is a Syrian journalist based in Doha.
