Five initial lessons The revolutionary insurrections in the Maghreb-Mashrek region http://alainet.org/active/46956&lang=es

The fourth lesson is that what is at stake is democratization throughout the Maghreb-Mashrek region. Emerging from particular national situations, and triggered by the Tunisian uprising and the Egyptian revolt, the insurrection has spread with its specificities throughout the Region. We must try to understand how, at a given moment, a nation of people is no longer afraid to revolt. The peoples have revolted throughout the Region, and have revealed the true nature of dictatorships by calling into question the roles given to them by Western powers.

They have shed light on four basic functions fulfilled by these dictatorships: 1) guaranteeing access to raw materials, 2) guaranteeing military agreements, and particularly treaties with Israel, 3) containment of Islamism, and 4) the control of migratory flows. These peoples’ revolts have exposed things and created a new awareness; they have helped make possible what seemed to be impossible. A new approach was indispensable and is on its way to becoming reality.

As we have observed in other areas of the world, democratization tends to develop at the level of geo-cultural regions. However, regional movements do not eclipse the specific national situations. It is at the national level that relationships with state governments, institutions, and political organizations are defined, that alliances are made and problems resolved, and that transitions can be made. Yet, the regional level is also of great interest. Just as a nation of people comes into being through its historical struggles, a region is built through its transformations, and the convergence of the actions of the peoples living there. Today, we are witnessing the construction of the Maghreb Mashrek region.