(National Interest) Aaron David Miller - Heroically, the Arabs are freeing themselves from their authoritarian masters. But can they liberate themselves from the fears, conspiracies and prejudices that also shape so much of their politics and identity? Two principal bogeymen - Israel and the colonial power (aka America) - continue to haunt the Arab world. For the Arabs, Israel is one tough and painful look in the mirror. How could a tiny country defy the will of the great Arab nation and make itself into the strongest military power and most technologically advanced country in the Middle East? The Arabs themselves have turned David into an ugly and mythical Goliath. It remains the default for any Arabs, no matter what their orientation, to simply blame whatever they don't like on imaginary omnipotent American policies serving exclusively the supposed interests of Israel. At what point do the Arabs stop blaming the West for much of what ails them? Is there an expiration date on the evils of the colonial legacy? Will America always be a convenient excuse to shift responsibility from the Arabs' own incompetence and inability to construct fully productive and functioning societies where human rights, rule of law, prosperity and security are available to the majority of their citizens? Conspiracy theories infantilize and prevent individuals and nations from assuming responsibilities for dealing with their real problems. The Arab spring was a critical beginning. For the Arabs, freeing themselves from their demons - both real and imagined - will be harder still. The writer is a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
2012-07-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive