Editorial in the Financial Times: A European date with Arab history
“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,” wrote the poet William Wordsworth of the French Revolution. Of course, he had the events of 1789 in mind – the storming of the Bastille, the abolition of the absolute monarchy, the demolition of feudal institutions, the declaration of the rights of man – rather than what followed: the Terror of 1793-94 and a Europe laid waste by Napoleon’s wars of imperial conquest. Still, if Wordsworth were writing today, he would surely celebrate the political awakening of the oppressed peoples of the Arab world with as much enthusiasm as he did that of the French nation more than 200 years ago.
Such, too, should be the starting point of Europe’s response to the tumult that began in December in Tunisia and is spreading through Egypt to Jordan, Yemen and beyond. The resounding cry for freedom puts paid once and for all to the specious argument that Arab societies, unlike all others, do not yearn to throw off the chains of bondage. Moreover, the absence of religious fanaticism at the heart of the uprisings undermines the claim that to dismantle repressive Arab regimes is merely to hand power to murderous extremists.
For sure, the French Revolution, not to mention the 1917 Russian Revolution, are a reminder that the intoxicating aromas of political and civic liberty can all too quickly be replaced by the acrid stench of the guillotine, gunfire and reaction dressed up as revolutionary idealism. The road to freedom often involves unpleasant detours: excessive nationalism, economic distress, border conflicts, even civil war. But Europe must not lose sight of the reward that lies at the end of this road – a far more trusting and constructive relationship with north African and Middle Eastern neighbours whose governments at long last treat their peoples with dignity...
Read entire article at Financial Times (UK)
Such, too, should be the starting point of Europe’s response to the tumult that began in December in Tunisia and is spreading through Egypt to Jordan, Yemen and beyond. The resounding cry for freedom puts paid once and for all to the specious argument that Arab societies, unlike all others, do not yearn to throw off the chains of bondage. Moreover, the absence of religious fanaticism at the heart of the uprisings undermines the claim that to dismantle repressive Arab regimes is merely to hand power to murderous extremists.
For sure, the French Revolution, not to mention the 1917 Russian Revolution, are a reminder that the intoxicating aromas of political and civic liberty can all too quickly be replaced by the acrid stench of the guillotine, gunfire and reaction dressed up as revolutionary idealism. The road to freedom often involves unpleasant detours: excessive nationalism, economic distress, border conflicts, even civil war. But Europe must not lose sight of the reward that lies at the end of this road – a far more trusting and constructive relationship with north African and Middle Eastern neighbours whose governments at long last treat their peoples with dignity...