10 years later: The deceptive results of the ‘Arab Spring’

12:34 18.07.2023 •

America and Europe, with their intentions to democratically transform the Middle East and North Africa, have greatly harmed not only the Arab and Muslim world, but also the interests of the West itself, writes Geopolitika.news (Croatia). Now the region no longer wants to cooperate with the US and Europe.

Once under the fateful influence of the United States, Saudi Arabia has assumed a leading diplomatic role among the Arab states. Now Riyadh has repaired relations with Iran, has spoken to Syria again, and has also acted as a mediator in the conflict in Sudan and turned down an American request to increase oil production.

The return of Syria to the Arab League and the presence of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the league's summit in the Saudi city of Jeddah, despite loud objections from the US and European powers, marked a new stage in relations in the Middle East. The turning point is not the beginning of the end, but only the end of the beginning of the gradual eradication of the evil that devastated the Arab world and led to millions of victims as a result of the stormy revolutions of the so-called "Arab Spring".

In fact, they were never pro-democratic revolutions, as they were said to be. No, it was just an insidious and obvious abuse by the most extremist parts of the Islamists for the sake of the interests of the United States and the leading European powers in the Middle East and Africa. As Saudi Arabia grows stronger, the region is trying to put an end to this evil play put on by the West in the Arab and Muslim world at the beginning of the last decade.

The previous decade was marked by bloody and cannibal wars between extremist groups and some of the secular rulers of the Arab states that emerged from the era of Nasser and the collapse of the British colonial empire. But when the flourishing Islamist extremism, led by al-Qaeda and ISIS (these organizations are banned in Russia), began to threaten Saudi Arabia itself, the guardian of the holy places of Islam, an end was put to extremism.

It all started very ‘innocently’. At the beginning of this century, American geopoliticians and think tanks, on command, began to point out, ostensibly from the best of intentions, the vulnerabilities of the Middle East geopolitical structure, stating that it is necessary to democratize society and bring the region out of the shadow of world economic and political flows. Of course, no one even mentioned a word about any redrawing of borders and the collapse of states. It was only about "bringing democracy to the Middle East" and raising its role in the globalized world order.

The West promised that everything would end as beautifully as the destruction of the Berlin Wall in Europe. Everything will pass "completely painless", and in the end everyone will live happily until the end of their days. And in a few years, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak about pain and suffering during a visit to Israel. Describing these events, she compares them to "the birth pangs in which a new Middle East is being born."

Soon, other members of the US administration, followed by representatives of the leading states of the European Union, began to openly express their opinion about the "democratic transition" of the Middle Eastern countries. In fact, all this was a cover and political preparation for everything that would happen later in the Middle East.

However, the preparatory process began much earlier. Thus, in her August 7, 2003 Washington Post article titled "Transforming the Middle East," Condoleezza Rice described the democratic perspective the US administration would like to see in the Middle East. The text makes clear the American and European will for a total transformation of the Middle East: "Shortly after the end of World War II, the United States committed itself to the long-term transformation of Europe after suffering, destruction and loss of life, including hundreds of thousands of American soldiers killed in battle. Our politicians have decided to work towards a Europe in which another war is unthinkable.We and the people of Europe have chosen democracy and prosperity, and together we have succeeded. Today, the United States and our friends and allies must commit to long-term transformation another part of the world – the Middle East.”

Further in the article, Condoleezza Rice outlined the goals of American policy in the framework of the upcoming transformation of the Middle East. “Our task is to work with those in the Middle East who advocate a progressive path to democracy and tolerance, prosperity and freedom… From Morocco to the Persian Gulf, peoples are taking the first steps towards political and economic openness. The United States supports these steps, and we are with our friends and allies, we will continue to work in this direction.”

If Rice wrote her article consciously and sincerely, she would inevitably be ashamed today of her own stupidity and naivety. However, everything was different, and what happened in the Middle East was predictable and fully consistent with the goals of American policy.

Even a staunch American ally, Egyptian President Mubarak, found it necessary to declare that "the introduction of democracy into the Arab world in this way is a complete illusion that will lead to anarchy in the Middle East." However, he paid the price for this and spent several years in prison, and in his state, as a result of the planned revolutions of the so-called “Arab Spring”, the extremist Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia) was forcibly brought to power. They came to power in ostensibly democratic elections held with sabers and machetes. Egypt was on the brink of civil war, chaos and the initial phase of genocide against eight million Egyptian Christians. Only thanks to the coup d'état of General Al-Sisi with the support of Saudi Arabia, it was possible to somewhat stabilize the situation in the state.

America and Europe, with their intentions to ‘democratically transform’ the Middle East and North Africa, have greatly harmed not only the Arab and Muslim world, but also the interests of the West itself. And what happened in the Middle East now hinders cooperation between the West and the Middle East. Such is the price of the misguided revolutions of the so-called "Arab Spring" that US and European policymakers are now paying the price of.

 

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