Gwynne Dyer: Current protests in the Arab world reminiscent of 1989

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      It was the Egyptian army’s statement that brought it all back: “To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people... have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people.” In other words, go ahead and overthrow President Hosni Mubarak. It’s all right with us.

      It reminded me of the day of the first big anti-Communist demonstration in Moscow in mid-1989. There had already been non-violent demos in other Communist-ruled countries like Poland and Hungary, but this was Russia. The enormous crowd filling the broad Garden Ring Road was visibly nervous, and I was staying near the edge of the crowd so I could dodge into a doorway if the shooting started.

      Then I noticed that there were Soviet army officers, in full uniform, among the protesters. It was going to be all right: the military wanted change just as much as everybody else. Tahrir Square in Cairo today is the same: the army is with the people.

      The army statement in Cairo rang the death knell for Mubarak’s regime, even if he still insists that he will stay in the presidential palace until the election scheduled for September. That won’t happen. A transitional government led by other people will organize the election. But the echoes of an earlier revolution set me to wondering: is this the Arab world’s 1989?

      In 1989 the collapse of the old order started in the "satellite" countries, not in the Russian heart of the empire, just as the current revolt against the Arab status quo began in Tunisia, a relatively small and marginal Arab country. The Eastern European landslide only started to sweep everything before it in November 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall. So is Hosni Mubarak the Berlin Wall of the Arab world?

      He certainly could be, for Egypt is the most populous Arab country, and the tactics and goals of the Tunisian and Egyptian peoples closely resemble those of the peaceful revolutionaries of Eastern Europe in 1989. The Arabs, too, are successfully using non-violent tactics to bring irresistible moral pressure on tyrannical and corrupt regimes, and they are demanding just the same things: democracy, justice and prosperity.

      The non-violent formula worked in two to three weeks in Tunisia, and it looks like it will take about the same time in Egypt. At first the president is defiant and sends police thugs out into the streets to attack the protesters, but he cannot use massive violence because he knows that the army would not obey a shoot-to-kill order. Much like in Eastern Europe in 1989.

      Then begins the retreat. First the president promises reforms. Then, when that doesn’t work, he fires the entire government and creates a new cabinet (but it’s still full of hated regime cronies). Then he promises to leave power at the next election, but argues that he must stay for the transition period to guarantee “stability”. And finally, he gets on the plane and leaves.

      Tunisia has travelled that entire route since mid-December, and Egypt is passing through the next-to-last stage. Other Arab countries may be on the same road: the demos began in Algeria and Yemen in December. They’re only three weeks old in Jordan, but the king has just fired the entire government and appointed a new cabinet with orders to carry out “true political reforms”.

      There are holdouts like Syria, whose president, Bashar Assad, boasted last week that his regime is secure because it has a “cause”: confrontation with Israel. More to the point, the Syrian army probably would open fire on protesters, for it is dominated by the ethnic minority to which Assad himself belongs.

      Iraq is so paralyzed by ethnic divisions after the American occupation that no popular mass movement is possible. Saudi Arabia and the smaller Gulf states almost certainly face no risk of popular revolution, for their people enjoy great prosperity because of their oil. Nevertheless, the pressure for change is palpable in most Arab countries.

      Fully half the population of the Arab world might be living under different, more democratic regimes a year or two from now. The European 1989 delivered precisely that in just two years; why can’t the Arabs do the same?

      They can, of course, but the period after 1989 in Eastern Europe was not entirely happy. The immediate result, in most countries, was a fall in living standards, not a rise. One major country, former Yugoslavia, was torn apart by war. There were various smaller wars along the ethnically fractured southern borders of the former Soviet Union, and Russia ended up back under a gentler sort of authoritarian rule.

      The risks for the Arab world are comparable: short-term economic decline, civil war, and the rise of new authoritarian regimes, probably fuelled by Islamist ideas. Nothing’s perfect. But what we are now witnessing in Tunisia and Egypt, and may also see elsewhere, is a great liberation not just from dictatorship, but from decades of corruption and despair. That’s worth a lot.

      Comments

      9 Comments

      stoneweapon

      Feb 2, 2011 at 11:55am

      It is still certainly not clear with who the military in Egypt stand as they decrease security in Tahrir square and passively allow Pro-Mubarak forces to inflict violence on the peaceful opposition.

      isaac a.

      Feb 2, 2011 at 3:01pm

      violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

      mubarak is resorting to his last refuge.

      AncasterMike

      Feb 2, 2011 at 7:40pm

      This article was released before Mubarak bused in the armed mob today. The purpose, no doubt, was to make the street democracy look like it was getting out of hand. Time for the professional forces to step in and disburse the crowds. Pretty Machiavellian. I can't remember if the Soviets did anything similar.

      KaosAgent

      Feb 2, 2011 at 8:34pm

      "Then he promises to leave power at the next election, but argues that he must stay for the transition period to guarantee “stability”. And finally, he gets on the plane and leaves."

      This suggests that the military has to apply pressure behind the scenes. What else could force the big man to leave?

      Canadian still in Cairo

      Feb 3, 2011 at 1:07am

      The thugs have forced this wonderfully peaceful protest to become violent. I really wish the media would stop calling them pro-Mubarak people and just call them what they are... paid thugs. The world needs to support these intelligent and determined crusaders for democracy.

      Francis

      Feb 3, 2011 at 1:24pm

      Interesting analogy, with even deeper parallels. The USSR went down economically after its Afghan war. Now the US is doing the same. The restive periphery in Eastern Europe broke free from the USSR first. The restive periphery in the US's "arc of instability" is breaking free. What's next? My feeling is we are yet in the early stages of a profound economic collapse, similar to the USSR's and possibly as deep (GDP dropping by 2/3s), brought on by military over extension.

      scissorpaws

      Feb 4, 2011 at 6:23am

      Best case scenario it disrupts oil production/transportation sending oil to $150 or $200 a barrel. People suddenly discover the hidden benefits of Green Technologies, the prohibitive cost of shipping stuff from China return manufacturing to North America and car use drops significantly as gas tops five dollars a gallon. Well, a guy can dream.

      delia ruhe

      Feb 4, 2011 at 2:36pm

      Mubarak may indeed step on a plane at the end of next week, but I do not see the advantage for the Egyptians if the Dictator-in-Waiting Sulieman--the guy with whom Washington is currently negotiating--takes over. It's not just Mubarak who has to go but rather, the whole regime. That can happen only if the military actively throws its support behind the people. That the army refuses to harm the movement is a start, but it's not nearly enough.

      ErnestPayne

      Feb 11, 2011 at 3:48pm

      When I left this morning Mubarak was still clinging to power. When I got home I discovered that he had been pried out of power. We do indeed live in interesting times. What Israel is going to do in the face of this shift should prove interesting.