Democracy and feudalism

Pres. Bush has highlighted the problem of the absence of democracy in the
Arab countries by stating that while many believe that democracy and Arab
culture are incompatible, he believes that they are in fact compatible.
Thus, he is supporting elections in Iraq and the Palestine Authority as soon
as January, 2005.
There is a rational explanation for why there is no democratic Arab state so
far, and that is feudalism. In Arab society, the primary affiliation is to
the family, clan or tribe, not to the State. Although many things have
changed since medieval times, the Arab countries are still basically feudal.
For example, many Palestinian cities are run by a few clans, and it is
surprising to find that both the leading extremists and moderates (or
notables) come from the same clan. For example, in Hebron the Kawasmeh clan
is one of the major families that run the city. But, the leadership of the
Hamas terrorist group there was also run by the Kawasmehs (until they were
recently killed). The explanation for this phenomenon is that if either the
moderates or the extremists control power, in either case the same clan
maintains its hold over the city. When a leading terrorist is killed his
next oldest brother usually inherits the position, thus maintaining family
control.
This allegiance to "family" reminds us of the Sicilian Mafia. Their main
allegiance is to the family above that of the State or their compatriots in
general. These same issues have prevented the development of democracy in
Iraq, where the power has been in the hands of the Tikritis, since Saddam
Hussein came from Tikrit. Beyond the local family affiliation the allegiance
is to tribal groups, such as Sunni, Shia or Kurd that dominate in Iraq, just
as allegiance to Ukrainian Catholicism dominates Western Ukraine, while
Russian Orthodox dominates Eastern Ukraine. Similar issues led to the
break-up of the former Yugoslavia, and it is not inconceivable that Ukraine
could split into two. In other words, in Ukraine as in Iraq, tribal
affiliations are in conflict with democratic norms within a multi-ethnic
state.
In Syria power is in the hands of the minority group the Awalekites, the
clan of Pres. Assad, and in Jordan it is the Hashemite clan that was
established there by the British that runs the country. In Saudi Arabia, the
very name means that the Saudi clan are in control. In her book "The trouble
with Islam," Irshad Manji points out that insofar as the Saudis control the
allegiance of Muslims the world over because of their control of Mecca and
Medina, and their financial support for Wahhabi Islam, they tend to foster a
tribal Arab form of Islam. Rather than being the "peaceful" and "universal"
religion some see in Islam, Wahhabism tends to be extreme and tribalistic.
In that sense it excludes modern influences and is incompatible with
democracy. If the Imams control society the concept of abstract individual
rights is meaningless, since rights depend on their interpretations of the
Koran.
A similar situation existed in Christendom until the Middle Ages. But, in
the Magna Carta, the rights of hereditary Lords were established relative to
the Monarch, and this eventually led to the rights of merchants and others
being recognized. In Britain, tribalism was wiped out by invasions and the
development of the middle class and democracy over a period of 1,000 years.
In its place the emphasis that developed was on the individual and human
rights. This was transferred to the United States, and all groups that
subsequently immigrated there also adopted this standard, although
maintaining greater or lesser allegiance to their group of origin. For
example, Jews in the US tend to live in the same districts but do not vote
purely on the basis of Israel. In fact, the majority vote on social
issues, which is why Israelis supported Pres. Bush 3:1 while American Jews
by contrast supported Sen. Kerry 3:1.
The question then resolves itself into: can the Arab States make the
transition from feudalism to democracy in one fell swoop? No doubt it will
take a generation or two, but one has to start somewhere.