A new generation of practical revolutionaries in the Middle East is daring repressive regimes to bow to popular reform rather than resort to brutal crackdowns. They are armed with little more than the power of social media and a belief that the basics in life trump Islamist ideology.
No wonder dictators and fundamentalists fear social media as it seems to have played midwife to an extraordinary revolution unfolding before our eyes in the
There can be no doubt Iran’s theocracy is watching carefully as Tunisians armed with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and email ousted their kleptocratic ruling family, succeeding where Iran’s Green Revolution faltered only because of an unrelenting and brutal crackdown.
The same fear is no doubt running through the ageing veins of
It is extremely powerful because it is protest unaccompanied by calls of Allah Akhbar, nor calls to jihad. It, so far, eschews any championing from hardcore Islamists who have been the convenient excuse the West has needed for supporting autocratic regimes in North Africa and throughout the
It seems rather than calling for Islamist regimes to come to power, the wave challenging government oppression that has the potential to domino is about the basics of everyday life – dignity, food, jobs, fuel, health and education, and not the least, real democracy.
When ordinary people eking out ordinary existences in the face of oppression from extraordinarily corrupt regimes begin to go into battle for change, it must surely be only a matter of time before that change comes.
Invading countries to impose a Western-style democracy has failed, and it is hoped the architects of such colonial thinking take note. Not until ordinary citizens see their troubles as home grown and out of synch with their aspirations, will the despots be successfully chucked out.
The danger then is a political power vacuum, and it is here the democratic nations of the world can be of help in altering policies which have to date propped up the autocrats in power in North Africa and the wider Middle East. New political leaders who can meet the needs of their own people require support. So far more than one blind eye has been turned when it comes to corrupt elections, political imprisonments and forceful suppression of any demonstration because the ‘West’ has conveniently believed this is all for the good because it keeps the Islamists under control. Wrong.
Now is the time for stepping up, and U.S. President Obama even used his State of the Union speech to extend moral support for the protesters in
If autocrats have argued their way of doing business is the bulwark against the dangerous tide of Islamism, and Islamism is not a key component of what the majority of their citizens want, then it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that the very opportune bulwark is no longer valid.
Social media has political power, and has done since text messaging rallied crowds whose sheer force secured the ousting of the
The Chinese, Burmese, Iranian and other repressive regimes work tirelessly to shut down any dissident behaviour that threatens to go viral, but with
Once the the world is delivered the genie of information and pictures, they can’t be stuffed back in the bottle. It is fair to say that stage has been reached.
Iranian citizens put up a gallant fight against all odds with their tweets and phone videos, and while they did not win immediately, they must take heart that the Tunisian domino with its perceptible shift from ideological politics to the call for practical improvements and good governance will eventually reach them…and hopefully their Muslim counterparts and Arab neighbours in the region. This new generation deserves indigenous democracy that is creatively and tirelessly supported by the both the wider Arab world and the West.