Still hoping for Spring

Editorial

The end appears to have come for Muammar Qaddafi’s reign of terror in Libya, but Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to kill the citizens of his country who seek freedom and the Hamas dictators in Gaza continue to foment terror against Israel.

As Vancouverites wonder if we will ever have a real summer, the Arab Spring seems destined to continue well into autumn. In fact, the outcome of all the uprisings across the Arab world may take generations to fully understand – unless, like the Prague Spring 43 years ago, this small light is crushed by forces antithetical to democracy and freedom.

If the Arab Spring fails to fruit, however, it will not be because of an external invasion, as was the case in Czechoslovakia four decades ago. It will be because a different flavor of repression emerges from the ferment brought on by the vacuum of dictatorship. The worst case, probably, would be fundamentalist Islamist repressors replacing comparatively secular repressors. The best case, of course, would be flourishing democracy across the region – though it would remain to be seen how long places like Egypt or Libya, with vast internal divisions and minimal governing infrastructure, could survive and thrive as free societies.

Despite whatever bad omen the Egyptians rallying against Israel last week might represent, if the citizens of Arab states demand democracy, it will be the surest sign of coming peace. Democracies do not go to war with each other. This is a time of great hope.

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