POL 300 Week 5 Discussion

POL 300 Week 5 Discussion

Middle East in Turmoil—Nation Building and Democracy?

In the wake of the Arab Spring and its aftermath — the unrest in the Middle East and regions around it — there are a number of critical developments to watch and discuss. We saw longstanding (but stable) dictatorships and repressive regimes being replaced by radicalized regimes that, in many respects, were far worse than the ones they overthrew. This so-called Arab Spring was championed by world leaders in the West, including the United States. Sadly, however, this led to far more regional instability, greater influence of terrorist groups in the region (e.g., al Qaeda, Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, and others), and the deaths of a great many innocent people. The aftereffects of this policy are still being felt.

The United States has tried “nation building” in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. However, keep in mind that it took democratic ideas more than 2,000 years of human history to end up with only one country, with a unique history, where democratic ideas have survived for as long as it has. Is nation building or ‘democracy’ even possible in the Middle East (or much of the world)?

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Consider the following:

• Muhammar Gadhafi was dictator of Libya for decades and, for many of those decades, was a well-known financier of global terrorist activities, including the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scottland (something that caused President Reagan to bomb Libya). In his later years, however, Gadhafi seemed to have a change of heart by renouncing terrorist and actually helping to root out terrorist elements operating in Libya. What were some of the effects (positive or negative) of the Arab Spring in Libya and the overthrow of Gahdafi?
• Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for decades as well. While he no Gahdafi, he was no angel. What were some of the effects (positive or negative) of the Arab Spring in Egypt and the overthrow of Mubarak, the election of the Muslim Brotherhood, and their eventual removal from power by the Egyptian military?
• Much of the world pushed for the signing of what is called the Iran Nuclear Deal. This deal was supported by nearly all of the leaders of Europe and the Obama Administration in the United States. Many people have questioned the wisdom of this deal with Iran for its payments to Iran, lack of verification of Iran’s denuclearization, and its apparent helping of Iran obtain nuclear weapons despite the deal’s open desire for stability in the region. What were some of the positive and negative aspects of this deal? NOTE: Be careful what you find on the Internet about this deal; there is a LOT of false information out there…

Keep in mind that you do not have to respond to each of the above bullets. Rather, this information is simply to provide some ideas on how to respond. As always, please feel free to ask questions.