Sustainable Democracy and the Paradox of the Arab Spring: The Egypt Experience

Abstract

The Arab spring began with an uprising in Tunisia and subsequently spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, libya,Yemen and Syria. The protest has been referred to as the Arab spring or the Arab democratic revolution. The Arab revolt explains a component of a great collective shift from long tenure and authoritarian rule. The aftermath of the transition from authoritarianism to democracy should have been the establishment of independent democratic structures. This is the only way a sustainable democracy can be guaranteed. This is where such factors as religion (Islam), monarchies, military and fundamentalism, come to be a crucial factor in analysing and assessing the success or failure of the Arab democratic revolution. This paper is of the opinion that a sustainable democracy within the Arab world cannot be guaranteed, in view of the above contesting variables for political/state power and influence. Each of these variables is not only anti democratic but present a contradiction in democracy. Eygpt experience is instructive. What is needed is a framework to mange and structure these diversities toward providing sustainable democratic political institutions that are in consonance with democratic tenet without radically changing the norms, values and nuances of the Arab society.