Tunisia Sends a Message to MidEast Despots
Barbara Slavin writes:
The demise of the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia by a popular uprising is a first in the Arab world and shows that the aging despots of the region must provide more freedom to their people or risk a similar fate.
Democracy proponents were overjoyed to learn that Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali –- who has ruled Tunisia with an iron hand since 1987 -– has fled the country and handed power to his prime minister. While it may take some time for a more representative government to emerge, what has happened is already an earthquake in a part of the world best known for political stagnation. Egypt, under its octogenarian leader Hosni Mubarak, should especially take heed and make sure that next year's presidential elections are not an empty show.
"The governments of the region have to re-evaluate the social contract with their people or reap the whirlwind," says Scott Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of state under the George W. Bush administration who has focused on democracy promotion in the Middle East.
It is difficult to underestimate the significance of these events.
Since Arab nations emerged from the wreck of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, new governments have come into being through foreign manipulation and military coups. Only non-Arab Iran has experienced a genuine revolution, in 1979. Some U.S. pundits had written off Arab countries as somehow immune to grassroots political change.
It is appropriate and also comforting that Tunisia's dictator is the first to fall. Slightly smaller than Missouri with a population of only 10 million, Tunisia has a well-educated, secular population and a marginal Islamic fundamentalist presence. Those rioting in the streets of the capital and provincial cities have been overwhelmingly middle class. The protests started in the hinterlands last month and then moved to Tunis after police prevented an unemployed university graduate from selling vegetables and he set himself on fire.
Twitter, Facebook and other social media played a part in spreading the demonstrations. So did WikiLeaks and the revelation of U.S. Embassy cables that described the family of Ben Ali -– and particularly relatives of his second wife, Leila Trabelsi –- as deeply corrupt.
When he took power in a bloodless coup 23 years ago, Ben Ali was seen as a force for modernization. But his ruthlessness led U.S. diplomats to call the country "Syria with a smile," Carpenter says.
In recent weeks, Ben Ali, 74, sought to stave off mounting calls for him to step down by promising not to run again in 2014. But popular furor at the deaths of several dozen demonstrators in clashes with the police would not be assuaged.
The Obama administration, which has been criticized by some for insufficient support for democracy in U.S. allies such as Tunisia, on Friday issued a statement from President Barack Obama praising the Tunisian uprising.
"I applaud the courage and dignity of the Tunisian people," the statement said. "The United States stands with the entire international community in bearing witness to this brave and determined struggle for the universal rights that we must all uphold, and we will long remember the images of the Tunisian people seeking to make their voices heard."
