Is Morocco the Model for Arab Democracy?

[Valin]

The Tower Magazine:

At the Western reaches of the Arab world, one nation has embarked on a path of incremental progress. Can liberty come without revolution?

Michael J Totten

August 2013

 

Rick's Cafe,Casablanca

 

The Arab Spring is leaving chaos in its wake. Islamization, renewed state repression, and the threat of starvation led to a military coup after the ouster of Egypts Hosni Mubarak. The Libyan civil war finally put an end to Moammar Qaddafis Stalinist dungeon state, but terrorism, destabilization, assassination, and precarious anarchy followed. Sectarian bloodshed approaching genocidal levels may destroy Syria even before its tyrant Bashar al-Assad is strung from a lamp post or exiled. In short, internally-driven regime changes in the Arab world dont seem to have worked much better than the externally-imposed regime change in Iraq.

 

But on the northwest border of Africa, change is coming to Morocco in a calmer and more gradual way. The ruling regime has been reformed instead of replaced, leaving institutions intact and creating no vacuum for thugs and fanatics to fill. Demonstrations sometimes occur, but they dont degenerate into riots, armed conflict, or mob rule. Nobody thinks civil war is coming; nor is there any danger of an Iranian-style revolution.

 

Morocco has been outperforming its Arab neighbors for years. Now that a political hurricane is battering the rest of the region, it looks better than ever. Morocco evolves instead of explodes, and while incrementalism does not offer the instant gratification of uprising and revolution, its precisely what the United States should be promoting throughout the Middle East.

 

(Snip)

[Pepper]

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