ChezGiven 0 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 "Where Denmark stands generically for a developed country with well-functioning state institutions." (Francis Fukuyama -= the geezer who famously said history was over) State-building—the creation of new governmental institutions and the strengthening of existing ones—is a crucial global issue. Weak or failed states are at the root of many of the world's most serious problems, from poverty and AIDS, to drug trafficking and terrorism, to the failure of democracies. While we know much about state-building, there is much that we do not know, particularly about transferring strong institutions to developing countries. We know how to transfer resources, people, and technology, but well-functioning public institutions require habits of mind and operate in complex ways that resist being moved. Where next for the middle east? The muted reaction to the death of bin Laden shows us what? A weakening of fundamentalism in the region? The Arab spring has been about re-taking control of dictatorship, a desire for liberty, democracy and freedom. Are they on their way to Denmark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) KSA's favourite Middle East commentator... The Arab Spring has demonstrated that the Arab masses yearn for liberty, not thuggish repression, for life, not death and destruction, for parliamentary democracy, not theocratic dictatorship. Bin Laden was already a dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War and the age of dictators in which a dissident such as he had no place in society and was shunted off to distant, frontier killing fields. The new generation of young Arabs in Egypt and Tunisia has a shot at a decent life. Obama has put the US on the right side of history in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya (where I see crowds for the first time in my life waving American flags). People might want a little help from a distance, but they don’t want to see Western troops deployed in fighting units on their soil. If Obama can get us out of Iraq, and if he can use his good offices to keep the pressure on the Egyptian military to lighten up, and if he can support the likely UN declaration of a Palestinian state in September, the US will be in the most favorable position in the Arab world it has had since 1956. And he would go down in history as one of the great presidents. If he tries to stay in Iraq and he takes a stand against Palestine, he risks provoking further anti-American violence. He can be not just the president who killed Bin Laden, but the president who killed the pretexts for radical violence against the US. He can promote the waving of the American flag in major Arab cities. And that would be a defeat and humiliation for Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda more profound than any they could have dreamed. Read more... http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/obama-and-...f-al-qaeda.html Edited May 3, 2011 by Happy Face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 Seems almost like a dream for the US foreign office. I wasnt really thinking about the role of the US, more about the sort of society and institutions that may rise out of recent events. Its still a 'may' not 'will' though i guess. Has anyone else noticed the use of the word 'spring' has strated to be used all over the place now to describe re-birth and change. It used to mean the flowering of pro-western democracies in the ME after Iraq, now its as though the people of the ME are finally awakening. Subtle stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 The book comes out today. Shit thread but should be a decent read. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/2...nation-building Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob W 0 Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 KSA's favourite Middle East commentator... The Arab Spring has demonstrated that the Arab masses yearn for liberty, not thuggish repression, for life, not death and destruction, for parliamentary democracy, not theocratic dictatorship. Bin Laden was already a dinosaur, a relic of the Cold War and the age of dictators in which a dissident such as he had no place in society and was shunted off to distant, frontier killing fields. The new generation of young Arabs in Egypt and Tunisia has a shot at a decent life. Obama has put the US on the right side of history in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya (where I see crowds for the first time in my life waving American flags). People might want a little help from a distance, but they don’t want to see Western troops deployed in fighting units on their soil. If Obama can get us out of Iraq, and if he can use his good offices to keep the pressure on the Egyptian military to lighten up, and if he can support the likely UN declaration of a Palestinian state in September, the US will be in the most favorable position in the Arab world it has had since 1956. And he would go down in history as one of the great presidents. If he tries to stay in Iraq and he takes a stand against Palestine, he risks provoking further anti-American violence. He can be not just the president who killed Bin Laden, but the president who killed the pretexts for radical violence against the US. He can promote the waving of the American flag in major Arab cities. And that would be a defeat and humiliation for Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda more profound than any they could have dreamed. Read more... http://www.juancole.com/2011/05/obama-and-...f-al-qaeda.html lot of "ifs" there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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