As I write, the immediate crisis on Mount Sinjar appears to have been resolved but the appalling scenes which have dominated our television screens in recent weeks and the graphic reports in newspapers have galvanised public opionion. People demand that we do all in our power to help the Christians and the Yasidis who are being so viciously persecuted. And they are right to do so. This is a problem that will not go away. One million people have been displaced since Islamic State militants took over swathes of Northern Iraq. Yesterday, the governor of Dohuk province warned of a “genocide”, as hundreds of thousands sought refuge there.
So what exactly is in our power? This requires a realistic appraisal of the situation on the ground and of our capacity to change it. Certainly, the situation across the Middle East is now more chaotic and dangerous than it has been for half a century.
The enthusiasm of yester-year for the “Arab Spring” has proved entirely misguided. It has led to chaos in Egypt and anarchy in Libya. Those determined to be “on the right side of history” now find themselves on the wrong side of the argument. Democracy is empathically not the solution for extremely complex societies and Western meddling only makes matters immeasurably worse. The fundamental reason for our failure is that democracy, as we understand it, simply doesn’t work in Middle Eastern countries where family, tribe, sect and personal friendships trump the apparatus of the state. These are certainly not societies governed by the rule of law. On the contrary, they are better described as “favour for favour” societies. When you have a problem of any kind, you look for someone related to you by family, tribe or region to help you out and requests are most unlikely to be refused since these ties are especially powerful. In countries where there is no effective social security, your future security lies only in the often extensive family. Read on and comment » | By Andrew Green*, former Ambassador to Syria and to Saudi Arabia | Saturday, August 16, 2014
* Sir Andrew Green is a former Ambassador to Syria and to Saudi Arabia
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom » | Mark Alexander | Friday, April 20, 2007
