Wishing You a New MENA

Journalist and author of And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East  said that “Everything changed with the First World War. The Middle East was reorganized, redefined, and the seeds were planted for a century of bloodshed.” He was not entirely right. Bloodshed lasted more than a century actually. Here we are in 2019, and the Middle East and North Africa region – the infamous MENA – is still a boisterous, rowdy zone of political recrimination, military coups, conspiracy theories, historic reminiscence, oil squabbles, and religiously-infused rhetoric. Blood shed of course as well.

Well, here we are. 

Algeria is set to head to the polls in April. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will likely secure a fifth mandate. If not, Algeria’s powerbrokers, mainly the military and powerful business elites will enter into an expensive bargain of security versus social and economic stability. Having vested the long-enjoyed tranquillity on a political figure, rather than a system, will have a high cost, as attested by neighbouring nations.

Tunisia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in November 2019, while the conflict between the Prime Minister and the President is intensifying, whereby economic reforms and the privileges of the old authoritarian order are at odds. Public anger at the politicians’ failure to address the economic crisis and persistent unemployment is not promising.

The Western Sahara conflict persists, and diplomatic tension between Morocco and Algeria is likely to escalate.

Libya is still embroiled in conflict, and political violence will continue to plague the country and feed political and ideological radicalization, in a region that really does not need further instability or polarization.

Scandinavian tourists were murdered in Morocco in December 2018, signally that in spite of all efforts, terrorism has its feeding grounds in the region. And is acting out. 

Meanwhile, Egyptian politics is proving its futility…the CBS “60 Minutes” cancelled interview with the President speaks volumes of the embarrassing levels of incompetence, and denial of human rights situation in the country. 

As for Iraq, and in the words of Tanya Goudsouzian “This will be another one of those years of instability and uncertainty, and trying to predict with clarity what Iraq will look like in 2019 is a fool’s errand.”

The Lebanese cabinet formation is still in a stalemate.  It has spent nearly two and a half of the past 13 years without a government, and talks to form a new one have dragged on for over eight months. Sectarianism thank you very much.

Meanwhile, in Jordan, veterans and political opponents are being locked up for voicing their opinions, whilst price hikes are slowly, and passively, being accepted as the glue that brings people together – now that all other slogans have proven to be a coy lie.

Gazans are under file – same old same old.

Qatar still being treated as the estranged black sheep by its Gulf sisters, while Saudis are under pointless international scrutiny for their human rights misconduct. Naturally, a few arrests and a governmental reshuffles were the answer.

Syria will celebrate US withdrawal…and Kurds will not. The opposition has forgotten whose side they are on, and who their allies are, but they will probably come up with something creative to add more misery. After all, it was only 14 children who perished last night out of the cold weather conditions in the Syrian refugee camp on the Jordan-Syria border. All under the age of 1 year. All died alone, in the cold, in a tent, homeless, and hopeless.

Don’t wish us a happy new year. Wish us a new MENA.

The Building

It is very similar to an old, abandoned, shaky building. The case of Spain that is. Its different storeys and multiple apartments from within have no option other than to endure the troubles caused – purposefully or passively – by other tenants. Those on the lower floors are luckier, as they can avoid fifth floor drama by isolation and compartmentalization of their existence. Those on the fifth floor are also lucky in that they can blame all mishaps and malfunctioning on the basement, and its tenants. It would be physically impossible to pull an apartment out and relocate, but it is quite possible and common to create alliances and parallel systems to manage the unmanageable co-existence.

And that is what is happening in Spain.

The Catalan region decided to address its financial problems by blaming central mismanagement and southern hedonism. They have and still are demanding a divorce from the Peninsula, with amicable terms with the remaining neighbours. Meanwhile, the south has also decided to put an end to the northern liberal discourse regarding the moral duty towards the disadvantaged, and elected a government that is able to utter the dreaded NO.

Communal existence has long been a challenge. In the XV and XVI centuries, Europe was ruled by aristocracy and gentry who divided lands amongst themselves without the need for a central authority. Changes introduced in the political system were attributed to security purposes and the growth of liberal thoughts that assigned civil rights to the working class. The edification of a communal unit promised equality and efficiency to a system based on birth rights. But liberal thoughts flourished into freedom of thought, and soon, every person residing in a community had the right to exercise his/her freedom of thought. Ideologies were modelled upon convictions, and were used as a sworn-by medicine to all problems.

Now, while people residing in the upper parts blame poor infrastructure for the draining of water resources, the residents of the southern areas blame the higher tiers for allowing non-traditional and foreign solutions into their harmonious existence. A divorce seems inevitable, but technically impossible. 

Solution? Vote in representatives who enjoy the shameless audacity to carry out repairs their own way, without having to consult with the neighbours.  

Problems have roots, and have solutions. Multiple solutions. But the question remains: is a solution to a problem more important than maintaining co-existence? Is fixing a water leak more pressing than conserving the pillars of a building that keeps it intact? Maybe that is the issue to be addressed first and foremost. Otherwise, each can find a solution to clear out the rubble.