Winds of Change

World-changing events during December 2010 and January 2011 began in Tunisia.  Their effects are now being felt across much of North Africa and the Middle East.  Can we hope that the time of the autocratic ruler in the Arab World, or throughout most of it, is finished?  Let us fervently hope so.

The little country of Tunisia, the "roaring mouse" of recent events, received its independence in 1957 as part of the break-up of the former extensive French colonial empire.  The French were only its most recent conquerors, however.  Its indigenous people were an agricultural people who utilized farming methods that had originated in the Fertile Crescent regions and arrived in northwest Africa (the Maghreb) via the Nile Valley.  They were ancestors of Berber tribes whose descendants today live in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali and Niger.

Tunisia's first identifiable foreign occupiers were Phoenicians who settled its coastal areas around the 10th century BC.  They founded the city of Carthage, which became the predominant civilization in the Western Mediterranean, until it was conquered by Rome in 149 BC.  The Romans controlled most of what is modern Tunisia from then until the area was conquered by the Vandals in the 5th century AD.   It was reconquered by Rome in the 6th century AD.  But, around the end of the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century AD, the region was conquered by Arab Muslims, who continued their sweep westward to encompass current-day Algeria and Morocco and definitively established Islam as the dominant religion.  In the late 16th century, Tunisia's coast was among the pirate strongholds known as the Barbary States.   Around the same time, Tunisia, like the rest of North Africa, fell under the domination of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.  From that time until the 19th-century French invasion, even under its Turkish governors, the Beys, Tunisia was virtually independent.  But France invaded Tunisia in 1881, using the pretext of a Tunisian incursion into Algeria, which the French had already invaded and conquered in 1830, using as pretext a slight to the French consul in Algiers.  Post-Napoleonic 19th-century France was certainly not averse to using specious pretexts to expand its influence and control, just as in the 21st century, powerful nations continue to "justify" their invasions of others on equally specious pretexts.

Tunisia's struggle for independence was led by Habib Bourguiba, who then became its first first President.  After being virtually unchallenged in that role for 30 years, Bourguiba was ousted in a bloodless coup in November 1987 by being declared unfit to rule by his doctors.  His Prime Minister Zine El Abedine Ben Ali assumed the Presidency and ruled until what the West is calling the Jasmine Revolution, a continuing series of street revolutions that constitute the most dramatic wave of social and political unrest in Tunisia in three decades.  As result, Ben Ali stepped down and left the country.  A caretaker government has been created, with elections scheduled to take place within 60 days.  The situation will remain unresolved until then, at least.

Tunisia's seemingly successful protests against corruption in government, autocracy and looting of public assets have sparked similar protests in other Arab countries.  They have been compared to the Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia because they have created a domino effect in the Arab bloc, much as the Velvet Revolution did in the Communist bloc.  Most prominently in the press these days are the demonstrations in Egypt, which are being covered most comprehensively by non-US networks and print media.  Here, for example, is a link to Al Jazeera English, which provides live on-line streaming of events as they occur.

Unlike the actions in the Communist bloc, which were universally cheered on and hailed with great glee by the leadership of Western nations, these actions that so far have shown basically peaceful demonstrations in support of political rights and against corruption by too-long entrenched powers are, at best, being very cautiously welcomed by the Western powers.  Those of us who are unhappy with leaders who profess to believe in democratic rights only when the voting results ensure the comfortable status quo for the ruling classes that has been carefully maintained over the years are equally unhappy with these cautious pronouncements.  It's understandable that our Western leaders - not just those here in the US - are nervous.  After all, it is our combined policies - too often short-sighted, unfair and imbalanced generally - and funding that have helped to prop up and keep the corrupt ones in power.  And everyone knows it.  At least, everyone outside the United States knows it.  We here have been so dumbed-down in our knowledge and understanding of international events that too many here haven't even the slightest idea of how our actions resonate badly and are perceived abroad.

Fortunately, there are sources that do attempt to let the people involved speak for themselves instead of being interpreted by essentially no-nothing US pundits or those with a particular political agenda.  Al Jazeera's coverage is one.  There are admirable others.  One such is the Guardian (UK).  Here, for example, is an interactive link from the Guardian that shows the very thoughtful responses and unanimous support of the peaceful demonstrations and movements for change by several writers, both male and female, throughout the Arab world.  If that link is somewhat challenging (arguably some of the click-on balloons make it difficult to read the actual words of the writer in question), here is another.   These responses are well worth reading.  They provide unfiltered views of those who have all too often been poorly - and unfairly - portrayed in US media, in particular.

These winds of change should not be considered frightening.  They should be welcomed wholeheartedly.  Let us all take heart from the courage that is being shown by the millions who are in the streets.  If their actions do ultimately result in the kinds of beneficial changes that will make these societies more open and more equitable for all their citizens, then we will all be winners.  How could we not?  This is not naivety.  It is common sense.