The world has been witnessing the most striking uprisings of recent times in the Arab nations where the masses have united to channelize their protest against the baleful clutches of the governances which according to them aim to curb them of their basic human rights. The people have come forward and formed resistance in form of organizations and have decided to shake the authorities from the core in order to secure their human rights and rights as citizens of the land. They have got involved politically and have vowed not be step back until the demands are fulfilled. In a chronology of historic events all across the lands of Arab, governments have been ousted and new order has been established. This in turn has left the entire globe to speculate the consequences of the uprisings in Arab and the effects on world politics and economy.
United States of America had played the pivotal role in the toppling of the dictatorial government in Iraq by ousting Saddam Hussein from the helm of the state. It was presumed to be a matter of grave threat for the United States at that time based on intelligence reports of Iraq manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. The American president of the period, George Bush, was successful in acquiring the nod of the Senate to carry out an offensive against Iraq in order to oust the Prime Minister of Iraq. The move was supported by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom at that time and the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The consequences of the Iraq War should be looked upon in retrospect in order to validate our opinion about the logical explanation if America should intervene in the national politics of any nation under the effect of the tumultuous times of the Arab Spring. The most recent of stirring events have been the ousting of the Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, who had come under the scanner after steps of making the decrees, constitutional declarations and laws immune to any appeal. The army finally intervened and he was ousted from the governmental post by a coup. One needs to access the international situation properly to comprehend the issue of any possible intervention by United States of America. America should not essentially involve itself in matters as these. The nation should remain a close observer of the ongoing chronological events of the Arab Spring instead of being a direct player in the establishment of democracy and order in the nation states of Arab.
The expression ‘Arab Spring’ refers to the Revolutions of the 1848 which has been hailed as the “Spring-time” for the people of Arab. Several factors have led the locals to unify and revolt against the governments of the states. The youth has been an active participant in all the uprisings which have shook the Arabian nations to the core. The dissatisfaction regarding human rights, corruption, economic degradation, poverty have sparked off the protests in the hope of establishing governments which would be competent enough in sufficing the requirements of the population. These revolutions essentially deal with the internal affairs of the Arab countries.
Tunisia has seen a series of conflicts from 2008 and similar labor movements have been active in Egypt since 2004. In Algeria too there has been immense discontent among the masses and the country has been rocked by riots and unrests which have sparked off on issues regarding corruption, health care and education. The governments in Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt and Libya have already been overthrown by the revolution. Syria is now facing an ongoing civil war with the ambition to uproot the establishment like it was done in the other nations in the Arab world.
Debates have been evoked regarding the appropriateness of the involvement of the United States of America in the establishment of democracy. America has previously been instrumental in the case of Iraq and that has added to the ingredients of the debate.
It needs to be noted that in the countries where the regime changes have been supported by America, the administrations have actually transformed from stable autocratic one to that of severe instabilities and have thus hindered the policies of the United States. Obama administration had played the major role in the process of removal of Hosni Mubarak. Nevertheless, the American embassy complex in Cairo was attacked by the Islamist demonstrators. United States had engaged the government of Morsi as he was the elected head of the state of Egypt after the victory in the elections of 2012. However, as many as 22 million people came up to sign the petition to get him overthrown from his position. America was seen to encourage the military in Egypt to form the transitional government.
In spite of the talks of upholding democracy all over the world, the United States has been governed by the strategic interests. Steve Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations was found to opine that America would work with whoever is in power to promote America’s interests and provide what is wanted. It stands in stark contrast to the words of altruism on the part of our nation in regard to its ambition of supporting democracy.
A major transformation in foreign policy was seen during the regime of President George Bush. The Freedom Agenda asserted that America would refrain from giving blank check to the autocratic regimes in Arab which were instrumental in oppressing the civilians across the state. However, apart from the projects aimed to promote democracy, the American government at that time was involved in the war on terrorism which had in its domain deals with the leaders and security services which can be tagged as repressive and undemocratic by every means.
A shift from the Freedom Agenda was found in the strong words of President Barack Obama when he opined in the Cairo speech of 2009 that the United States did support aspirations of democracy, but was not willing to intervene in any way to impose any government upon any nation. Obama was seen to change his words subtly at the wake of the Arab Spring in 2011. He went on to promise that America would support democratic change of the nations.
The Tunisian revolution was endorsed by the Obama government and the American President eventually asked Hosni Mubarak to leave his position. America even joined the military campaign aimed to oust Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Islamist parties are now triumphing and the interests of America are being attacked by the extremists. At this, the aim of establishing democracy on the part of America has considerably subsided. It has to be comprehended that democracy can only be achieved through stability, tolerance and rule of law. In the chronology of events, the American government has not sent any ammunition to the rebels who aim to oust Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
It has to be kept in mind that the United States of America should in no way find itself in a position where it is under the scrutiny of the world. During the Iraq War, the nation had landed up in a position which fetched much criticism from across the corners of the globe. Indulging in the internal matters of a nation, hence, should be avoided until it greatly poses impediments to the national security of America or hinders the policies of the state.
The United States of America should rather look for cooperation from the governments which are elected democratically by the people of the respective nations. Thus, by creating an amiable relationship with the democratic government, America can give shape to its relations with the countries. The issue needs to be dealt with optimum diplomacy on the part of America. One needs to consider the possibilities of uprising at the incompetence of a hypothetical government which is endorsed by America. In such a case, our government will come under harsh criticism from the Arab world and it would mean much embarrassment apart from the futility of the amenities and efforts utilized to establish such governance in an Arab country.
American government needs to understand that any event of ousting would mean the establishment of a comparatively liberal government. The liberal politicians who will overtake the ousted individuals would prove more amiable to the United States that any extremist government as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. As such, the need of the hour is to have a close scrutinizing view of the gradual developments as an external power, rather than being an active force in the Middle-East uprising.
The argument can be countered by critics who would opine that America, being a major global power, should indulge in the pursuit of establishing democracy in accordance to the ideology of the Constitution. Also, it can be argued that America should utilize its power and authority to put in governance the people who would favor our national interests. The argument would mean that such intervention could catapult the economic growth of America and would add to the advancement of our nation.
But, on the contrary, it needs to be remembered that America should not impose any nation with a government of its choice as that may lead to the government failing to act properly and lead to a loss of popularity for America among the population of the Arab world. Also, imposing a government cannot be taken as the correct way of setting up democracies. Such interventions might also require military aid which can have its effect on the exchequer. Also, it would be pointless to deploy forces abroad when America faces no threat as such from the revolution. Peace and prosperity cannot be brought by America acting as a catalyst. Rather, the process is sociological and the Arab society should take its own course in the constructive process.
Thus, it would be apt to conclude on the note asserting that the United States of America should refrain from intervening in the internal matters of the Arabian nations. The socio-political scenario in Arab needs to take its own course for the nations to reach constructive governance. If America tries to apply its power to make the conditions favorable for itself, it can very well turn out to be futile with the imposed government failing. It would be the wisest to be an observer of the revolution and endeavor to have favorable relationships with the newly established liberal governments for the fulfillment of America’s national interests.
References
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of Arab Spring. CNN.
LaFranchi, Howard. (2012, September 17). How Arab Spring turned into protests and 'Death to
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Miller, A. D. (2011, November 13). Arab Spring, American Winter. Los Angeles Times.
Tait, Robert. (2013, July 15). US attempts to resolve Egypt crisis fall flat. The Telegraph.
