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Al-Jazeera carries a remarkable analysis by Aslam Farouk-Alli, datelined at 15 Mar 2011 15:07 GMT, abd available in England at <http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/201131513626957891.htm l>/ It is probably too long to copy here, but I recommend all to read it with my comment that if you don't agree with it at least 90% you have bot really imbibed the spirit of Marxist philosophy and analysis, or understood the revolutionary possibilities (indeed necessities) of our current epoch. Just to quote a couple of paragraphs to whet your appetite: "The Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin once said that there are decades when nothing happens and then there are weeks when decades happen. While Lenin's sentiment consummately captures the revolutionary contagion currently sweeping across the Middle East, any further comparison between the Arab revolt and classical socialist theories of revolution would be difficult to justify: what we are witnessing in the Middle East today is a quintessential, atypical people's revolution driven by university educated youth who are not only financially secure but also extremely cosmopolitan in their outlook. "These young revolutionaries have enhanced the power of social networking to mobilise their peers, workers, political organisations, NGO's, the young, the old and even the normally disinterested to materialise what Stathis Gourgouris recently described as the essence of revolution: The people's removal of their consent to power. "There is as such a much deeper historical undercurrent informing the protest movement, one that strongly resonates with the most basic of human aspirations and which dictates that freedom and honour - like the air that we breathe - are the lifeblood of all people, even when they remain for long periods of time beyond our collective gaze. Reflecting on the historical context that has shaped the modern Middle East places the current phase of popular revolution in much sharper perspective. "The modern Middle East was born in crisis. Remnants of the Ottoman and Safavid Empires of the 19th century, the countries of this realm only took the form of modern nation states after passing through the brutal mill of European colonialism. Whereas state formation in Europe took centuries to develop, countries in the Middle East were created by the veritable stroke of a pen; by a line drawn on a map; by a decision taken in a smoke-filled boardroom. "The results were catastrophic and for the people of this realm the transition from sultanic patronage, to colonial subject, to modern citizen of an autocratic state was overwhelming: little, if any, consideration was given to their political aspirations." <clip> "In the post-Cold War period, the United States of America has held unchallenged sway over the region and has manipulated the politics of the Middle East in accordance with its own strategic objectives, primarily its concerns over access to oil and keeping the rising powers of China, Russia and India in check. "Such control has been maintained by two major strategies. The first has been unconditional support for the State of Israel, a settler colonial enclave that is completely foreign to the cultural matrix of the region. Israel has acted as America's watchdog in the region in return for unconditional support for its own aspiration of maintaining an exclusivist Jewish homeland in the heart of the Middle East. "The second American strategy has been to maintain loyal local proxies by turning a blind eye to the internal oppression within these authoritarian regimes. Some of the USA's closest allies in the region, countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, the UAE and Jordan, are longstanding dictatorships that have shown no inclination to internal reform and political liberalisation. "As such, the greatest achievement of the revolution currently underway is that it has spawned a new political geography. With the collapse of Egypt alone, a major pivotal state in the region, American influence in the Middle East could be drastically reduced. Furthermore, Israel would no longer be in a position to act with impunity against its Arab neighbours, as was the case in Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2008/9; its deterrent capacity in favour of its own interests and that of its American Master will therefore be severely curtailed." Enjoy - and develop understanding, enjoyment, and support, of this revolutionary era. Paddy http://apling.freeservers.com ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
