Arab Awakening is dozing

Re. Egypt pushed to the brink, Aug. 15.

It has been said that with the exception of Egypt and Tunisia, all the Arab states are tribes with flags. Egypt is supposed to be a country of genuine statehood, civic institutions and citizenship. No more. We are back to a familiar terrain: state of emergency, nighttime curfews, arbitrary detentions and shooting on sight. Back to the past; back to the future.

The Arab Awakening is dozing again. Why? Because when it comes to attaining and keeping power, and when it comes to religious fanaticism and dogma, these two elements make an explosive mix.

Democracy was, and still is, a rare commodity in the Arab world. Civic institutions, minority rights, women’s empowerment and respect are all non-existent; separation of state and religion is impossible; finding a balanced relationship between the military and government is absent. Economic growth and job creation for the young — who constitute more than 60 per cent of the population and who are under 25 in many countries — are sadly fleeting and presently unattainable.

The international community is impotent in dealing with the domestic upheavals in Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, etc. The United States leverage is gone, and President Barack Obama is not interested in engaging yet again in nation-building in foreign land. The abdication of U.S. international leadership will continue for the next three years with catastrophic consequences.

The Arabs are left alone to deal with their issues: economic disintegration, youth bulge, environmental disasters like drought in Syria, religious infighting, totalitarian traditions and generational divide.

The best day after overthrowing a tyrant is the first one, a sage once said.

The Arab World is burning and the world will only watch in bewilderment as the innocent and guilty are slaughtered in the symphony of warfare and history.

ELIE MIKHAEL NASRALLAH, Ottawa, Co-author, My Arab Spring, My Canada