Tunisia and three eras of transition from non-democratic to democratic political systems: 1943-1964,

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1828-1926, and the 1970s and 1980s.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=234524

In 1991, right after the collapse of the Communist bloc, Samuel Huntington, the late professor of Harvard University, wrote a book titled “The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century”. This oft-cited study analyzed the transition of some 35 countries, mainly in Asia and Latin America, from non-democratic to democratic political systems during the 1970s and 1980s. The other “waves” occurred from 1828-1926 and 1943-1964. They have all failed to “rock” the Arab Middle East.

Following the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York, former U.S. president George W. Bush promised what many commentators dubbed at the time as the “fourth wave” which implied spreading democracy in the “last stronghold of world tyranny” — the Middle East. The U.S. military intervention was a complete disaster in every single aspect. It was a disaster to the cause of democracy in the Arab world, it destroyed the credibility of the U.S. as champion of human rights, and it harmed its interests and fed the cause of extremism in the Islamic world. Soon thereafter Bush found himself in a position where he had not only to leave governments heed the call for democracy at their own pace; but had also to support the very tyranny he claimed to be fighting.

If Arab elites were not committed to democracy, one should truly wonder how much commitment was there among the Portuguese or the Spanish elites during the transition to democracy in these two countries in the mid 1970s. In addition, neither homogeneity nor GDP could explain why poor and heterogeneous India has become the world biggest democracy. Last but not least, the success of some Muslim countries, such as Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia, to establish democratic institutions has undermined the argument that Islam is a hindrance to democracy.

Unlike Iraq, Tunisia's democracy is home-grown. However, there seems to be attempts by some western powers to abort and cancel what has resulted from this unique popular uprising, fearing that it may have a domino effect throughout the region. Our hope is that the men and women of Tunisia who made this historic victory possible will not allow that.