Freedom House compares Arab Spring to USSR collapse

PanARMENIAN.Net - Freedom in the World, the report on global freedom issued annually by Freedom House, found more declines than gains worldwide for 2011, saying that developments in the Middle East touched off the most serious challenge to authoritarian rule since the collapse of Soviet communism.

In a region that seemed immune to democratic change, coalitions of reformers and ordinary citizens succeeded in removing three deeply entrenched dictators: Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, and Muammar al-Gadhafi of Libya, the report says.

Tunisia has made the greatest strides toward democracy in the Arab world. Though it still faces numerous hurdles, the country has conducted honest elections, expanded press freedom, and generally chosen legal mechanisms and pragmatism over extralegal vengeance in dealing with the old elite, it says.

The report continues: Egypt also achieved gains, with parliamentary elections conducted with a degree of fairness that contrasts sharply with the sham procedures of the Mubarak era. More significantly, Egyptians now feel freer to speak out, even protest, albeit still with considerable risk. But the ruling military council’s crackdown against civil society threatens to undermine the positive that has occurred following Mubarak's departure. In the Middle East alone, reaction against the forces of change led to intensified repression in half a dozen countries, the worst case being Bashar al-Assad’s murderous campaign against the Syrian people.

It notes that, however, events are moving in freedom’s direction, and those who are contemptuous of democracy are increasingly on the defensive around the world. Vladimir Putin’s announced plans to return to the Russian presidency was met with a major setback in what were supposed to be tightly controlled parliamentary elections and unprecedented protests against corruption and electoral fraud. China’s frantic escalation of censorship and arrests of dissidents similarly revealed the staggering weaknesses of a regime that otherwise presents the image of a self-assured economic powerhouse.

The Arab Spring has reminded us that people want freedom even in societies where such aspirations have been written off as futile. Previous transformational events that created momentum for democracy invariably succeeded because American leadership was involved. To assume that things will work out largely on their own as the Arab world struggles to overcome despotism and build free institutions would be a catastrophic mistake. Such a policy would seriously damage American national interests and condemn the Arab people to more years in the authoritarian wilderness, the report concludes.