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The Stakes in the Middle East

(Jewish Review of Books) Natan Sharansky - Has the Muslim and Arab Spring been dangerously deflected? In the case of this latest movement, its work has barely begun. The nations of the free world must, without delay, seize the moment to lend a hand. For decades, tyranny was seen as the guarantor of stability, just as corruption guaranteed that the regimes' friendship could be bought. This great awakening cannot be wished away. It may be stalled; it may be temporarily forced underground; but it cannot be extinguished forever. Already it has shattered the longstanding truism that the Arab and Muslim peoples of the Middle East have no real desire for freedom, that they are content with living in societies dominated by fear. Some in the West are pointing to the alleged absence of any other centers of potential leadership within Arab society, and are "discovering" moderate elements within some of the region's worst actors. Take the evident willingness expressed by Washington to "engage" the Muslim Brotherhood. What is really being justified is an abdication of the free world's own ability to influence the momentous developments now gripping the Muslim world. There is an alternative: to throw one's support unequivocally behind the reformers and democrats who represent the real hope for a future of peace, liberty - and stability.
2011-04-15 00:00:00
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