Why is there no Arab democracy?

arniegang

Yes lets all bow down to brits for saving us from the german monster 😎 didnt know that the brits were something like superman.

and now USA wants to be the superwoman, saving the middle east from Irani monster 😎

I guess afterwards we will have the Chinese Bruce Lee saving us from the dutch batty boys 😎

Sorry 4got to mention how a malooo in a lungi will come and save the Middle East 😀

The greatest saviour of all time, The Maloo in a blue Lungi 😀

heres the maloo in blue lungi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd0ZFeUz9bw YEH YEH YEH, I wonder if our brit heros could dance like that 😀

You shouldn't bow down mate, you should just be thankfull to the allies from saving the Arabs from the gas chambers and huge fires of burning Korans in the streets. Lets be frank it would take a lot of make up and bleach to make you guys look Aryan 😛

And, I did said allies and not Brits to be exact.

hmmm well we didnt see the gas chambers because we didnt have a chance to experience it 😀 but we experienced bombs being thrown on us thanks to the brits and the allies 😉

I guess if the Arabs were given a chance, they would have given ze zgermans a run for money. But guess what the Iraqi arabs are certainly giving USA and the allies a tough time in Iraq 😀 and the afghani "arabs" are being a pain in the brits and allies peach 😀

arabs could have taught you brits and allies how to use the sword and how to chop ze germans lil heads off 😉

Typical Arab Response.

The Arabs never had a chance because 99% of them at that time were living in tents, were totally illiterate and fed off camel droppings. I suppose they could have stampeded their herds of camels at the onslaught of Rommel i suppose, or even thrown dried camel dung left over from lunch at the tanks.

I retract my previous comment re burning the Koran in the streets because a/ there were few steets and b/ because of their illiterateness no one knew off the koran, if they did no one could read it anyway.

😛

RobbyG

thank god the dutch didnt come into the middle east otherwise we all would have been batty seriously 😀

I feel flattered. 😂 If we did that, I guess I'd be very sheikhy rich now...wait, wait... lets get my ancestor out of the closet; LOL

Zippin' shakes all day long on a Dubai beach...secular state, democratic beaches full of naked woman logically 😁

rudeboy

the arabs are already showing the world what they can do to a superpower like USA (with all the latest hitech weapons) in iraq and afghanistan. so we can all guess what the arabs would have done with the germans and their old tanks 😀

rommel and his tanks would have had a tough time getting stuck in the desert whereas how can we 4get the Arabian Horse 😉

and how can we 4get the arab-turk revolt 😉

come on arnie you underestimate the arabs.

herve

the arabs are already showing the world what they can do to a superpower like USA (with all the latest hitech weapons) in iraq and afghanistan. so we can all guess what the arabs would have done with the germans and their old tanks 😀

rommel and his tanks would have had a tough time getting stuck in the desert whereas how can we 4get the Arabian Horse 😉

and how can we 4get the arab-turk revolt 😉

come on arnie you underestimate the arabs.

But in the end it all come to: Arabs have the Oil, but the West has the matches.

rudeboy

thank god the dutch didnt come into the middle east otherwise we all would have been batty seriously 😀

I feel flattered. 😂 If we did that, I guess I'd be very sheikhy rich now...wait, wait... lets get my ancestor out of the closet;

Zippin' shakes all day long on a Dubai beach...secular state, democratic beaches full of naked woman logically 😁

sorry to spoil you party, but why is he squeezing his bosom 😎 😁

rudeboy

the arabs are already showing the world what they can do to a superpower like USA (with all the latest hitech weapons) in iraq and afghanistan. so we can all guess what the arabs would have done with the germans and their old tanks 😀

rommel and his tanks would have had a tough time getting stuck in the desert whereas how can we 4get the Arabian Horse 😉

and how can we 4get the arab-turk revolt 😉

come on arnie you underestimate the arabs.

But in the end it all come to: Arabs have the Oil, but the West has the matches.

yeh but it looks like most of the west is in Arab land, apart from you herve ofcourse 😉

RobbyG

the arabs are already showing the world what they can do to a superpower like USA (with all the latest hitech weapons) in iraq and afghanistan. so we can all guess what the arabs would have done with the germans and their old tanks 😀

rommel and his tanks would have had a tough time getting stuck in the desert whereas how can we 4get the Arabian Horse 😉

and how can we 4get the arab-turk revolt 😉

come on arnie you underestimate the arabs.

Hold on...Arabian 'horses' against Rommels tanks? You mean these wobbly stilts? 😁

rudeboy

nope here u go

RobbyG

Now thats a fine, lean, and above all, a strong Arabian stud. SOLD.

I have some democracy to offer in exchange. I even put some civil rights with it. 😎

Do we have a deal? 😀

rudeboy

Now thats a fine, lean, and above all, a strong Arabian stud. SOLD.

I have some democracy to offer in exchange. I even put some civil rights with it. 😎

Do we have a deal? 😀

sorry but the yankees decide what happens not just in the middle east but in the whole world 😉

RobbyG

Now thats a fine, lean, and above all, a strong Arabian stud. SOLD.

I have some democracy to offer in exchange. I even put some civil rights with it. 😎

Do we have a deal? 😀

sorry but the yankees decide what happens not just in the middle east but in the whole world 😉

Jan Kees is a Dutch name. Just as Wall Street in Manhattan is with Dutch origins. The Hudson river is founded by Henry Hudson. A Dutch fella. They say, who owns Wall-street is the one who owns the world, right?

Mate, didn't you know already...we OWN(ed) it all. Well not all... 😁

http://www.historyconfidential.com/2009/06/the-origin-of-wall-street/

arniegang

Now thats a fine, lean, and above all, a strong Arabian stud. SOLD.

I have some democracy to offer in exchange. I even put some civil rights with it. 😎

Do we have a deal? 😀

sorry but the yankees decide what happens not just in the middle east but in the whole world 😉

Jan Kees is a Dutch name. Just as Wall Street in Manhattan is with Dutch origins. The Hudson river is founded by Henry Hudson. A Dutch fella. They say, who owns Wall-street is the one who owns the world, right?

Mate, didn't you know already...we OWN(ed) it all. Well not all... 😁

http://www.historyconfidential.com/2009/06/the-origin-of-wall-street/

Are you posting from "a cafe" in Amsterdam" ?

RobbyG

sorry but the yankees decide what happens not just in the middle east but in the whole world 😉

Jan Kees is a Dutch name. Just as Wall Street in Manhattan is with Dutch origins. The Hudson river is founded by Henry Hudson. A Dutch fella. They say, who owns Wall-street is the one who owns the world, right?

Mate, didn't you know already...we OWN(ed) it all. Well not all... 😁

http://www.historyconfidential.com/2009/06/the-origin-of-wall-street/

Are you posting from "a cafe" in Amsterdam" ?

Hahaha. That a 'coffeeshop' to get humble from. I'm rollin' ere! 😛

RobbyG

Allright, more than enough laughs than is good for me, so back on topic: Why is there no Arab democracy?

I spotted this:

Where oil dominates, there is little wealth creation through investment and risk-taking, for why take risks when there are steady profits to be made at no risk? And then there are the other grim dimensions of the “paradox of plenty,” such as the boom-and-bust cycles that go with dependence on primary commodities, as well as the more general tendency for windfall mineral rents to smother or preempt the development of industry and agriculture (the so-called Dutch Disease). These consequences are only avoided when vigorous market economies and well developed, accountable states and taxation systems are in place before oil revenues flood in (as for example in Norway and Britain)

So, the point becomes clear. Oil is nice to have when you like lazy. But when productivity and innovation is concerned, you don't want oil. Unless, of course, you utilize oil revenue as secondary income like the Norwegians and British do. So to keep your society sharp and competitive aswell as the wealthiest country on earth, per capita (Norway).

Still not convinced why government companies like DEWA and its customer service is rude and inefficient? There you go.

Dutch disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease

raidah

and what are you still doing on DF Robby? I thought you were done with us here on arabland

Allright, more than enough laughs than is good for me, so back on topic: Why is there no Arab democracy?

I spotted this:

Where oil dominates, there is little wealth creation through investment and risk-taking, for why take risks when there are steady profits to be made at no risk? And then there are the other grim dimensions of the “paradox of plenty,” such as the boom-and-bust cycles that go with dependence on primary commodities, as well as the more general tendency for windfall mineral rents to smother or preempt the development of industry and agriculture (the so-called Dutch Disease). These consequences are only avoided when vigorous market economies and well developed, accountable states and taxation systems are in place before oil revenues flood in (as for example in Norway and Britain)

So, the point becomes clear. Oil is nice to have when you like lazy. But when productivity and innovation is concerned, you don't want oil. Unless, of course, you utilize oil revenue as secondary income like the Norwegians and British do. So to keep your society sharp and competitive aswell as the wealthiest country on earth, per capita (Norway).

Still not convinced why government companies like DEWA and its customer service is rude and inefficient? There you go.

Dutch disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease

RobbyG

and what are you still doing on DF Robby? I thought you were done with us here on arabland

Sporting the intellectual challenge with a little satire for distraction. Care to join the debate?

raidah

and what are you still doing on DF Robby? I thought you were done with us here on arabland

Sporting the intellectual challenge with a little satire for distraction. Care to join the debate?

you call this a debate? and by the way, the answer to ur question is simple. change takes time. especially when it involves giving freedom to people who are not used to having it. its like giving millions to a poor uneducated person. they will fck it up in no time.

it took time for the US to go from keeping slaves to giving equal rights. it took us time in europe to go from having kings to giving the right to vote.

and by the way, if you think of the people of the UAE a few decades ago and how they are, especially in dubai now, they are catching up fast. maybe not always the right way, but fur sure life here is not static by any means

RobbyG

and what are you still doing on DF Robby? I thought you were done with us here on arabland

Sporting the intellectual challenge with a little satire for distraction. Care to join the debate?

you call this a debate?

It is now, thanks to you. 😂

Of course there is progress. I never said there wasn't. But I was reading this analysis about absence of Democracy in Arab states in combination with a book from Dominque Moisi - The Geopolitics of Emotion, and the lag of Arab countries in the globalization cycle. Its fascinating to see how politics, combined with economic development and religion can hamper liberty, rights and prosperity.

So thats what I like to discuss hon. 😉

Be nice will ya. You know I luv you. lol 😁

uaekid

I believe democracy was invented bcz governments knew they will always be against there ppl and they will always complain 😂 ! I mean ,comaan how hard is it to please your locals and give them what thy should have so the won't complain ?you are fighting so hard for your governments to feed and satisfy you, why ? aren’t those ppl the ones you elected ?the ones you trusted.

Another point is that yes democracy is there but only to a level that those governments sets ! Its been hundred of years and you are still fighting begging for your needs ..

what is the use of freedom of speech when no one is lessening ?

good luck.

shafique

Interesting article - thanks for posting.

It is interesting to look at the instances of democracy at play in the region over the recent(ish) past.

Iran had a popular elected leader in Mossadegh - and he had a popular mandate to improve the lot of Iranians, and quite rightly wanted to retain more of Iran's resources for Iran (i.e. take more control over oil). He was uncermoniously deposed - but not by the people.

Melika - did I say Iran was an Arab country?

I just put out there the historical facts that democracy in the region has been suppressed - and suppressed not because of the people in the countries, but because of outside interests.

What happened to Mossadegh is relevant, as it fits into a pattern and may help to explain why other countries in the region (who also have oil, and happen to be Arab) have suffered similar fates.

In fact, I started by a non-Arab instance precisely to bring out the point that it may not be the ethnicity of the population or leadership that is the issue - it may have to do with whether the country has oil or not. 😉

Ok - it looks like you guys are having an interesting discussion without me (you'll note I only listed the events and didn't really give an explicit opinion... I just seeded the discussion).

Cheers,
Shafique

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