Democracy is historically considered the most significant governance system that prioritizes human rights and political and social freedoms. Despite its many imperfections and the reservations of experts and regimes who argue that it is not the best governance system, it is often regarded as the least bad option available. Democracy is the most effective at ensuring accountability for officials and enabling political participation. Indeed, it acts as a crucial barrier to authoritarian regimes that threaten human rights and freedoms.
Throughout the past century and the beginning of the current century, democracy has been strengthened worldwide, extending to many countries previously considered not free. However, in recent years, democracy has faced significant challenges from authoritarian regimes, supported by global authoritarian powers such as Russia and China, alongside traditional dictatorships in various regions. This has led to a decline in the progress of democracy in several countries, evidenced by diminished democratic performance, the rise of authoritarian or populist tendencies, and even a regression to pre-democratic stages.
This trend partly accounts for the failure of the Arab democratic wave and has driven some countries in the region to even worse authoritarian states than before the Arab Spring. This authoritarian spectacle has received dual support from Russia and the most authoritarian monarchies in the Arab world.
Although the Arab protest movements primarily targeted authoritarian military republic regimes, those opposed to the traditional authoritarian monarchies. With the explosion of Arab protests, all parties—republican military regimes, traditional monarchies, and Arab peoples—realized that the success of a protest state would mean the experience would likely spread to other Arab countries, following the theory of the domino effect.
Consequently, authoritarian regimes in the Arab world have united in opposing nascent democracies, resembling an alliance of dictatorships. This has led to democracy being besieged in Tunisia, which alone does not constitute a generalized model. At the same time, there has been support for a more authoritarian regime in Egypt, a crucial driver of regional change, the continuation of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship, and the spread of military chaos in Yemen and Libya. Additionally, ongoing chaos in Iraq and Lebanon has been supported.
The stumbling of democracy in the Arab world will inevitably impact its global trajectory. When one of the world's most politically closed regions moves towards democracy, the global trend towards democracy will be strengthened. Conversely, the strengthening of authoritarianism in the Arab world will bolster the opposite trend, supported by Russia and China. In the context of international relations, these developments benefit the authoritarian camp, enhancing its global presence and increasing its competitiveness with the United States and its democratic allies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the severe governmental measures implemented in many countries, including restrictions on movement, the imposition of emergency laws, and political maneuvers favoring authoritarian regimes, have all contributed to bolstering the position of authoritarian states. This has been reflected at both the governmental level and among popular movements that perceive authoritarian regimes as better equipped to handle the pandemic. This distorted belief results from the lack of transparency in these regimes about the extent of the pandemic, its impacts, and their response mechanisms. It is not the success of authoritarian regimes in confronting the epidemic that is at issue, but rather the perceived failure of democracies.
Authoritarian regimes can make decisions and manage state affairs more quickly and respond to challenges more effectively but are less accountable for their decisions and cannot be held responsible for their failures. In contrast, democracies bear subsequent responsibility for their decisions.
The failure of democracy in many regions has multiple causes, including poverty, corruption, and political and ideological conflicts, which drive people to prefer authoritarianism or create power vacuums that authoritarian forces can fill.
In this context, the rise of movements like the Proud Boys in the United States poses a threat to one of the world's oldest democracies. This movement represents an escalation of populist trends with authoritarian tendencies, which, in one form or another, are a coup against democracy from within. It is expected that this movement will interact both structurally and relationally, potentially strengthening the global authoritarian camp if it achieves any significant success in the United States, regardless of the nature of that success.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of major democracies, in what could be termed democratic solidarity, to prevent the rise of these populist currents—which are also increasing in Europe—on one hand, and to strengthen social movements driving global democratization on the other. This means that the United States should take essential responsibility in supporting Arab democratization and reconsider its relationships with Arab authoritarian regimes and dictatorships, instead of reinforcing them, which is a policy the new American administration should work on both domestically and internationally.
Dr. ABD ALQADER NANAA