Grégoire Mallard: How the Arab World Can Prevent Another Qaddafi: Share a Regional Bill of Rights
[Grégoire Mallard is an assistant professor of sociology at Northwestern University.]
The world has watched and cheered at the peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. But observers in the West have expressed fears that future autocrats might steal their victories. And citizens in Tunisia and Egypt can still be legitimately concerned about the possibility of an Iranian scenario. Will a populist government ignore the rule of law, steal future elections, and develop an adventurous nuclear program?
Constitutions are supposed to address this peril. In the next few months, Tunisia and Egypt will reform their constitutions in order to grant more rights to their citizens. Other Arab nations may follow. But in the past, constitutions have proved malleable in the hands of authoritarian rulers.
To prevent future political leaders from stealing the fruits of their democratic revolution, these countries should start a process of regional democratic integration, delegating the protection of core principles to regional courts and institutions. The United States should help the new Arab democracies in this endeavor.
This is the lesson we have learned from Europe.
When democratic forces emerged from the ashes of Nazi rule in Europe, the US actively promoted the efforts of the democratic leaders of the European integration movement....
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The world has watched and cheered at the peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. But observers in the West have expressed fears that future autocrats might steal their victories. And citizens in Tunisia and Egypt can still be legitimately concerned about the possibility of an Iranian scenario. Will a populist government ignore the rule of law, steal future elections, and develop an adventurous nuclear program?
Constitutions are supposed to address this peril. In the next few months, Tunisia and Egypt will reform their constitutions in order to grant more rights to their citizens. Other Arab nations may follow. But in the past, constitutions have proved malleable in the hands of authoritarian rulers.
To prevent future political leaders from stealing the fruits of their democratic revolution, these countries should start a process of regional democratic integration, delegating the protection of core principles to regional courts and institutions. The United States should help the new Arab democracies in this endeavor.
This is the lesson we have learned from Europe.
When democratic forces emerged from the ashes of Nazi rule in Europe, the US actively promoted the efforts of the democratic leaders of the European integration movement....