Arab Spring will change Middle East

By Shafey Danish (NDChronicle.Com)

When Zine al-Abidine fled Tunisia after the country rose up in revolt, Muammar Gaddafi, chided the Tunisians, "What is this for? To change Zine al-Abidine? Hasn't he told you he would step down after three years? Be patient for three years and your son stays alive," Gaddafi said.

The patronizing tone however did not hide from anyone Gaddafi queasiness at the rumble right next door. No one thought then that Libya too would explode into revolt. No one thought that those demonstrations would take such a bloody turn, and that it would lead to a civil war.

Yet all of these things came to pass. Friday marked a significant milestone. The US on Friday, gave full recognition to the Libya’s National Transitional Council, paving the way for the support of the Benghazi based organization with better funding. The US will likely open up the $30 bn funds of the Gaddhafi government which were frozen as part of international sanctions.

Along with the US, all of the 32 nations present in the contact group announced full recognition for Libya’s rebel council. What it means is that it is really the end of the road for Muammar Gaddafi. A proposal for ceasefire which provides for Gaddafi’s and some of his family’s removal from Libya is in the works and will soon be presented to the remnants of Gaddafi’s government in Tripoli.

It now only a matter of time before Libya too gets rid of its dictator. Tunisia and Egypt have already got rid of theirs. If you look at 40 years of dictatorship and repression, then what has been achieved in the last half a year is astounding.

Yemen is imploding, Bahrain is tense, while a bloody crackdown in Syria is only motivating more people to come out in the streets. ‘Bloody crackdown’ has become a hackneyed term, but what is happening in Syria really gives new meaning to it. It tells us why democracies are always better than dictatorships.

In the meantime, the revolution is taking a torturous course even in countries where it has been successful in dethroning despots. In Egypt the Army looks set to entrench its powers and there is unrest and instability in Tunisia. In Libya there has been reports of human rights abuses by the rebel forces. While in both Yemen and Syria, the anti-government protests have taken a sectarian turn.

So one needs to understand that the future is anything but clear. One does not know how things will look when the dust settles. One does not know even if the dust will settle in the next few years, countries like Yemen and Syria could be in for a long period of turbulence.

What does seem clear is that the Arab Awakening will leave the entire region with more rights and freer than they were before. The memories of this revolution, for many years to come, will make the remaining dictators pay heed to their public. The public would be bolder and less likely to be cowed down because of the sacrifices made in this struggle.

When that happens, the middle-east would have truly awakened.