The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Levant, Iraq and Iran are
the regions that were mostly conquered by Muslim armies at the time of
the Rashidun Caliphs. They converted the whole swath of land to the
religion of Islam. After conversion to Islam, the people of the region
lived under different Muslim dynasties from the seventh century AD untl
the early twentieth century as autonomous geographic units under a
central command that has shifted according to advent and exodus of
different dynasties. Then came the western Christian imperial powers of
the British, French and Italian empires. They removed the fragmented
Muslim rulers and ruled the region with an iron fist for almost a
century. The masses of the occupied lands rose against their occupiers
and a freedom struggle started taking shape in the region.
When the military occupation became
difficult for the colonial powers, they devised a plan to divide and
rule the colonized territories indirectly. Prior to relinquishing their
decree they divided the land of Arabs & Muslims into small sovereign
states to rule them circuitously. To control the power structure of
those countries they curbed the people’s voice by supporting despots for
their own benefits and provided them the required legitimacy to rule
their people with the same iron fist that they used to rule with.
The people of the region who speak the same language and are adherent
of the same religion of Islam are being divided by the colonial powers
to suit future geopolitics. Muaamar Ghaddafi the deceased Libyan leader
might have developed Libya and made the country best on social
indicators in the African continent but he was the foremost opponent of
Arab Maghreb unity; the same with Ben Ali and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of
Algeria and King Mohammad of Morocco. Mubarak contained Egypt in its
geographic boundaries and relinquishes its leadership status amongst
Arabs in general and North Africans in particular. The Assad family has
ruled Syria for the last four decades and their main motive was to rule
the country against the wishes of the people and they never try to annul
the illegitimate division of Levant by the colonial powers.
The discontent of the people against the dictatorial rulers of this
region exploded in the form of Arab spring where people poured onto the
streets defying the threats and fear of the cruel dictators. In many
countries they have forced the dictators out and deposed them from the
power. Still the people of Syria are fighting against the dictatorial
regime of Basher al Assad and in any case he will have to relinquish
power in days to come.
The question that here arises is: will this lead to the integration
of the region or will it be divided further in small political units to
suit the western powers who will again to rule them indirectly for
decades to come? In my view the people of the region want to live with
dignity and unity under the umbrella of central headship and they know
that only the unity amongst the people of the region can provide them
what they want.
Many observers are of the belief that the Arab spring is a
western-hatched plan to further disintegrate the countries of the Middle
East and North Africa into smaller sovereign entities. That will serve
the purpose of the neo-colonial powers of USA & its European
partners. That will further increase the unchallenged life-span of the
Jewish state of Israel. The disintegration of Libya into Benghazi and
Tripolitania and Coptic land for Egyptian Christians. The further
creation of Alawi sovereign lands and likewise for the Druze and
Christians in Syria is on the cards.
Foreseeable Kurdish integration is also a very important development
in the region, scattered in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria if Kurds are
able to unite under one umbrella or with a strategic alliance, the Kurds
can change the whole dynamics of the region. Yet it is for the Kurds to
get united first under a common and stated vision.
Recent regional turmoil seems to make this the right time for Kurds
to assert to their goal of living under one umbrella with fellow Arabs
and Turks in a unified sovereign/ autonomous region. (The problems of
Kurds in Iran are somehow different from the other Kurdish regions. In
Iran they have two simultaneous problems of religion and
ethnicity/language. The majority of Kurds in Iran remain Sunni after
more than five centuries rule of different Shi’ite regimes).
If people of the region will be able to attain real democracy then
certainly we will see the boundaries of the current nation states of the
entire region dismantle and a reintegration process of the geography of
the region, from peninsula Arabia to the Levant and further to the
Eastern-most Arab lands (Arab Maghreb) will form the shape of the union.
To attain the goal of reintegration, peoples’ movements are important
to make it an issue on the political and electoral agenda and force the
leaders to fight the elections on the agenda of regional integration.
There is no reason why the adherents of the same religion and people
who speak the same language and most importantly live in same geography
cannot unite and live under one umbrella of central leadership as they
used to live for centuries before the advent of western colonial powers.
The leaders of Tunisia and Libya have already raised the issue of
assimilation of their respective countries into a single political
entity. If the nascent democracy will be able to prevail in the
countries of the region then we may witness the integration in the newly
liberated countries of North Africa. This will culminate in a people’s
movement in the other countries like Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, of the
redundant Arab Maghreb Union, then the Levant after the fall of the
Al-Assad regime in Syria. Peninsula Arab sheikhdoms that have already
formed a loose form of union called the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
are already looking forward to strengthen it to a full-fledged union
(combined economy, armed forces and foreign relations ) of the current
member states and later may include Yemen too.
The people of the region do not harbor mistrust amongst themselves;
it is and was the dictators who sow (ed) the seed of mistrust amongst
the people to tighten their grip on power through the fervor of pseudo
nationalism. That Arab nationalism has already vanished. The major
Western powers including the state of Israel will try their best to
resist the change but the natural flow and free will of people shall
ultimately prevail.
The Arab spring is a natural flow of people’s will and it clearly
indicates what the people want. There is the hell of the difference
between exactly what the people want and what the despots of the region
do. The people want the integration of the region into union or
federation. Receding nationalism is slowly being replaced by religious
patriotism, spearheaded by the transnational ideology of Muslim
Brotherhood, and this is a natural flow and will of the people to
reshape the regional geography. Only time will tell whether the present
upheaval will ultimately help to integrate the region or whether the
chaos will be exploited by western imperialist to further disintegrate
the region and fulfil the goals of their grand chess board.
http://kurdistantribune.com/2013/arab-spring-reintegration-or-further-disintegration-of-region/
http://kurdistantribune.com/2013/arab-spring-reintegration-or-further-disintegration-of-region/
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