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Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/01/21/not_losing_the_arab_awakening
The Future of the Arab Awakening
(Foreign Policy) Marwan Muasher - Since the beginning of the Arab Awakening in 2010, one transition after another has struggled or failed to produce governments that can respond to citizens' longing for freedom and opportunity. The Arab world has long been dominated by two forces: an entrenched, unaccountable elite and Islamists. However, neither of these groups has ever demonstrated a genuine commitment to pluralism. Arab publics are now beginning to judge Islamists and secular forces alike based on performance, not ideology. The Arab Awakening needs to be an assertion of universal values: democracy, pluralism, human rights - but these are not ideals that can be imposed from outside. Only when societies and their elected leaders truly embrace tolerance, diversity, the peaceful rotation of power, and inclusive economic growth will the promise of a new Arab world be realized. The writer, a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan, is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.