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What will come of the Arab Spring?

Every time I have traveled in a Muslim country I have been impressed by strength of spirit and depth of thought which seems emblematic of the Islamic faith. These impressions were especially striking compared to my expectations which probably were set by hearing about fundamentalists and terrorists, and the dismal treatment of women. Nedim and I were recently in Morocco, and were absolutely amazed to see a community of men and boys come together for spiritual practice five times a day. We also felt protected and safe enough to walk through the back alleys of Marrekesh at 4 am in the morning, several times. Some of the Persian poets are the greatest in the world, and Arab philosophers are historically reknowned for their thought leadership in medicine, science, astronomy, and math. That said, the entire region has been a backwater for the last hundred years, embroiled in the tribal fueds of the past yet empowered by the riches of the oil economy. I believe that the Middle Eastern societies all might change once the people of the region have greater voices in their society's development.

What will become of the Muslim world as a result of the Arab Spring? Will the terrorism and oppression of women, and the enthusiasm for fundamentalist Islamic groups subside when people have a voice and an opportunity to create change through governance? What will the Arab world look like 50 years if the people are successful in creating a more democratic government?s What do the Arabs have to offer to the world?

I'm hoping for greater peace and greater prosperity, the gradual equalization of women, and that the people will choose to invest in education and societal wealth over individual gains once the oil money is taken out of the hands of the few oligarchs.

Please post if anyone else is thinking about this!

Nicole

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Permalink Reply by Michele Baron on April 28, 2011 at 7:29pm

I hope, with the increased access to online education, communication and verification forums, that people can become more aware of, involved with, and in charge of the myriad interests, forces, and decisions which impact their private and interconnected social lives. If a wired-in economy and wired-in political system can combine with an informed, empowered, gender-equal population, people can enjoy increased transparency, accountability, and self-selection of their socio/political/economic and environmental systems. I hope awareness and responsibility can bring enhanced security and peace, sustainability and comfort for the peoples who have labored so diligently for so many centuries within the structures and restrictions of so many forms of government. Freedom, human rights, bio-sustainability can all be in greater jeopardy without diligence, can all be more assured if we continue to expand and share our access to, comprehension of, and responsible choices based upon, society's collective development, empowerment, historic/indigenous and current/pro-active information

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Permalink Reply by ampat varghese koshy on May 2, 2011 at 11:06am

Nicole, please read my post on Libya and Michele Baron's on Libya and you'll see that a lot of people are thinking about it.

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Permalink Reply by ampat varghese koshy on May 2, 2011 at 11:07am

Beautiful post!

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Permalink Reply by Nicholas Nagao on May 4, 2011 at 9:51am

Great post Nicole! Your images of Morocco bring a welcome change to all of the pictures and videos we see coming from the media.

I'm hopeful that the Arab Spring will bring about changes for good, but I'm also wondering how those changes will come about. In the comments of this blog we are discussing the solutions to the revolutions taking place. The type of revolutions that occur could shape the future of the region in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Nicole on May 4, 2011 at 9:45pm

Thanks Nick & Michele and Ampat. Nick, you're so right ... the type of revolutions really will factor in to how things turn out. Look forward to continuing the conversation under the Libya blog.