Are Arab monarchies more suitable for Arab societies?

[U8200]

Anyway lastly honestly speaking then there are positives and negatives about most systems. Personally I can easily picture myself living anywhere in the West but also in "non-democratic" areas of the world like GCC and China. It's all about needs and culture at the end of the day.

That's why democracy is different in every democratic state and that's the beauty of it all.

My preferred option in regards to the GCC would be a constitutional monarchy and an elected parliament. In other words are more developed version of the Kuwaiti system. A system that ironically has been criticized by Kuwaitis for being too chaotic and for hindering progress. Many Kuwaitis believe that a more "autocratic" system is more beneficial.

In any case I doubt that the average Qatari, Emirati, Saudi Arabian etc. (especially those well-off and Muslims which tend to be the vast, vast majority) are crying to sleep at night because they cannot elect a politician who ad the end of the day is another power-hungry person (most of the time).

In general politics is poison if you ask me.

One interesting thing is Arabs as a minority within systems of democracy. Using Israel as an obvious example, the Arabs in Israel are increasingly politically energised. They now make up the 3rd largest bloc in the Israeli parliament and more Arabs are joining up for political activism. And not all the expected anti-Israel stuff, much of it is social issues for Arabs and more funding for education etc.

There's also an ethnically Arab population in Turkey which I would guess takes part in the political system - so it shows that democracy in itself isn't something that Arabs can't connect with.

Your preferred system for the GCC is basically what Britain had until the royal's 'power' became more ceremonial. It's done the UK well, so who knows.

A bit difficult to 'start' new monarchies these days, so I think Egypt/Syria etc have missed out.

Jordan is the best one.
Moroccan leader is not smart .. it reminds me the stupid kings who didn't have choice to lead a country in France. "king" is not a good solution .. someone being elected someone being educated and having been selected to be smart in studies and action... should lead.. not a guy by its genetics

but of course i would not compare to terrible dictators you quote

emirates ... i worked there ... sorry to say but it shows population is too much conservative , backyard
and nothing can change for good until the people are less conservative and start be educated
same for lot of countries there, but worst are the dictators that don't allow any critics

you know ... Iran tried to brainwash Iranians and avoid Iranians to be educated after revolution,
it didn't work . but sadly it is always possible to create a legion of uneducated people not aware for change being good for them

what we all deserve , it is a work for better leaders . and that leadership would be much more a work from the society. lot of our countries are too much "mafia style" countries .

you know ... in Iran for exemple you see these rich guys.girls in pics like they are westerners like people
yeah sure ... but most of them became rich because working with bad guys in Iran
these people didn't care when middle class and poor class were in streets against Ahmadinejad

i believe strongly that the major class important for democracy is : middle class
an educated middle class
when we have strong educated middle class, in any of our countries, then we can start to say "it is fine"
until that, we are backwards

We have to be practical though and say that the Emirates in their current form is a much better option than the alternatives of nations breaking down in the M.E.

I don't think the conservative nature of the people is solely down to the political system. Of course that's got a huge bearing, but also religious scholars are espousing conservative ideology in many of these places and to some Arab, the local Imam is more important than any politician.

Iran is a sad story because they've had democracy and gone backwards (albeit with Western interference). Whereas in many of the Arab states, it's still to come.

I still think there's a place for monarchies. Especially benevolent ones like Jordan's king who I'm a big fan of.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

One interesting thing is Arabs as a minority within systems of democracy. Using Israel as an obvious example, the Arabs in Israel are increasingly politically energised. They now make up the 3rd largest bloc in the Israeli parliament and more Arabs are joining up for political activism. And not all the expected anti-Israel stuff, much of it is social issues for Arabs and more funding for education etc.

There's also an ethnically Arab population in Turkey which I would guess takes part in the political system - so it shows that democracy in itself isn't something that Arabs can't connect with.

Your preferred system for the GCC is basically what Britain had until the royal's 'power' became more ceremonial. It's done the UK well, so who knows.

A bit difficult to 'start' new monarchies these days, so I think Egypt/Syria etc have missed out.

We don't even need to look at Israel. Look at South America. An Arab diaspora of 30-40 million people (!) that gave South America this below and much more. One of the most successful communities in South America.

Did you know? Latin America has had 8 presidents of Arab origin | ngc blog

Arab world and Latin America cooperation thread

Carlos Slim Helu (world's richest person - Latin-Arab), Shakira, Salma Hayek etc.

Arabs by nature are "political animals" (that's obvious to anyone that knows us) and talkative people. Loud and emotional too by large. It's just that the ground realities as of now in most Arab countries do not permit people to go against the "stream" so to speak. Arabs are highly opinionated people be it about politics, religion or whatever.

At the same time the Arab world is deeply tied to traditionalism and figures of authority/power (be it parents, relatives, clergy, leaders, elders etc.) are highly respected so going against the "stream" fundamentally can quite often be very different. That's why many issues are put under the carpet. Also due to religion. But many of the same issues are put under the carpet regardless of religion (Islam, Christianity, Judaism etc.) or any religion at all (atheism).

Sure but that's where the tide is going. Look at Kuwait for instance. Even the small developments on this front in KSA points to that direction. Nowadays in this modern world, especially in rich states like the GCC that are connected to the world as much as the average well-to-do European, there won't be any ways back IMO. Add to that the large numbers of students abroad.

Still I am 100% convinced that should a democratic system emerge in the GCC it will be a distinct one just like the one that will emerge in Russia, China etc. and that's perfectly fine and normal if you ask me.

Regarding the UAE. Then the Farsi is speaking nonsense. This totally depends on the Emriate, family etc. Most Emiratis like most Arabs are proud people that are deeply rooted in their cultures. Yet that does not mean that they are not open to elements from the outside. Nothing could be more ridiculous when looking at the demographic makeup of the UAE and actual society. It's the most cosmopolitan area of the MENA region for God's sake.

Also most UAE women nowadays do not even wear a headscarf (not that this says anything about "progress") when abroad. The youth is also very much educated be it in the West or within their own country.

UAE is a shining success story in the MENA region without a doubt.

 

[Norwegian]

Actually, the answer is a lot simpler than that. Its not that Arabs are not compatible with democracy. Its actually the opposite: Its political Islam that is incompatible with democratic principles. Egyptians did get their democracy back after revolutions of the Arab spring, but the Islamist party that won the majority vote itself destroyed it in less than a year. Why? Because they only knew how to win an election and had no idea how to run a democratic nation after the elections.