Democracy is spreading everywhere except in the Arab world. Arab elections are an immense masquerade. Corrupt dictatorships seek to stifle freedom of thought and to control the flow of information.
About the Authors
Mohamed Talbi
Mohamed Talbi is a Tunisian historian who has authored a number of books and articles on the history of the Maghreb. His more recent publications, which have focused on issues related to Islam, include Iyal Allah (God’s family), published in French translation in 1996 as Plaidoyer pour un Islam moderne.
If Iraq is successfully to democratize and an inclusive democratic culture is to emerge, the Iraqi state must be reconstituted as a federal and strongly liberal system and thoroughly demilitarized.
Arabs express a clear preference for democracy, which they define in ways similar to citizens elsewhere in the world. But their authoritarian regimes are not listening.
Widely reported as “Facebook revolutions,” the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt show that social media not only can ignite protests but also can help to determine their political consequences.
