Oppressive State of Affairs in the Middle East Nations - Essay Example

Anti-government protests were seen in Egypt, Yemen which later spread to Sudan, Jordan, and Algeria.

     The protests in Egypt however received international attention, as the country was the most influential, and the most powerful amongst all the Arab nations. On 25th January, thousands of protestors came down on the streets to demonstrate against the authoritative rule, protesting against President Hosni Mubarak. President Mubarak responded by rearranging his cabinet ministers and appointing Gen. Omar Suleiman as the country’s Vice President while removing the police department and replacing it with military forces. However, all these changes failed to make an impact on the protestors, and with the military refusing to assist the government, the voices demanding the removal of the President grew louder.
At this time, many of the experts labeled this Egyptian revolution as “a leaderless revolution,” owing to the fact that there were virtually no opposition parties left in Egypt, owing to the present regime’s policy of destroying all forms of political opposition, which simply left the banned group, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ as the only organized party, outside the government. At present, the opposing groups are being led by Mohamed ElBaradei (a Nobel laureate), and the Muslim Brotherhood. On 1st February 2011, President Mubarak, pledged to his nation that he would not seek another term in the next elections, would act against the corrupt leaders, and would conduct a free election later this year, however, whether his pledges have calmed his citizens, yet remains to be seen. The US President Obama, in a press release, had asked for “an orderly transition” in Egypt that “must begin now” (Jacob, AJC Perspectives: Upheaval in the Arab World, 2011). US involvement in this regard is imperative, as Egypt was always the greatest, and the most dynamically of America, amongst the Arab countries. While the US administration did not ask President Mubarak to resign immediately, it nevertheless supported the citizens’ endeavors, and called for democracy in Egypt, and declared that it would not stop the annual average of $1.5 billion in aid, to the country. As Egypt and other Middle-East nations are slowly inching towards democracy and freedom, Lebanon, has however has taken a regressive step in the backward direction, with the rise in power of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which has led to a breakdown in the national coalition government leading to a crisis. 

     From the above discourse, it is clear that at present, sweeping reforms are taking place in the Middle East countries. These changes promise to transform the nations that have been repressed for many years, under the various dictatorial leaderships, leading to severe oppression of the common man, who was not allowed to express his thoughts and opinions, on any matter related to politics or governance.

Reflections: A look back into the history of these regions, will show us that the present oppressive state of affairs, as perceived in the Middle East nations is mainly the result of the 1916 Agreement where both Britain and France, post-WWI, strove their best to divide amongst themselves the riches of the destroyed Ottoman Empire. Under the treaty, these two colonial powers divided the empire into parts that “forged only more divisions (Lebanon), imposed monarchs where their families had no roots (Jordan and Iraq) and created a climate of conspiracy in a region where conspiracies are still hatched” (Shadid, In Peril: The Arab Status Quo, 2011). Soon after this, the country of Israel was created, which led to the beginning of a series of unending feuds between Israel and the Arab countries, which continue even to this day. The US also played a major role in this constant tension, by being unsuccessful in its efforts to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, and “rejecting engagement with Islamist movements and helping prop up governments like Egypt’s and Saudi Arabia’s that seem incapable of reforming themselves”(ibid).

     However, the Arab states by themselves also have a strong role in creating this present situation, by failing to establish economic prosperity, a stable form of government, bring in elements of pluralism, and “a universal sense of citizenship,” even after many years of rule. Instead of creating an atmosphere of secularism and benevolence, the governments had fostered national identities based on narrow perspectives, which are either Sunnis, or Shiites, or Christians, thus forging greater divisions amongst its own citizens. A failure to create better economic conditions has resulted in frustrations amongst the modern educated youths of these regions, who see no future in their own countries. So what we observe today is the outpouring of anger and frustration that had been suppressed for too long, and has come to such a situation where it can no longer be contained by the mere fear of bullets, tanks, and even death. “What’s happened is there’s been an accumulation of frustration and some anger and some bitterness, a combination of a lack of political rights, shrinking economic opportunities, abuse of power, the dominance of the security state, all these things, [and today] We’ve kind of passed the tipping point”(ibid). So the solution in bringing back peace in these regions is by allowing democratic governments to take over the reins, and bring back economic stability within these countries, and solve the problem of joblessness, while also striving towards achieving unity, amongst the various ethnic groups, and religions, seen in these regions.