Mommy and Daddy say the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammad bin Zayed, recently toured the less prosperous parts of the United Arab Emirates to hold town-hall-style meetings. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia announced a $10 billion increase in welfare spending to help young people marry, buy homes, and open businesses. Trying to hold onto our thrones, aren't we now?
In the Middle East, two presidents have already tumbled: Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia. Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen is in an increasingly tenuous position. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya is desperately trying to resist rebellious forces too. Despite all this upheaval, it doesn't look like the region's monarchs are going anywhere. The presidents seem more likely to fall.
Bahrain's King Hamad and his security forces were pretty brutal in their treatment of the insurgents - almost shocking for the prosperous Bahrainis. King Abdullah of Jordan managed to handle the unrest too. Although the monarchs rule in a similar fashion to the presidents of the region, the presidents oversee more populous countries, without the oil wealth of the gulf monarchies. The much lesser unrest in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait is mostly because all of them are regal welfare states - citizens pay no taxes and are looked after by the government. In the U.A.E, for example, when one citizen marries another, the government helps to pay for the wedding and even to buy a home. This gives the monarchies more legitimacy than the republics. The republics claim that the people have a voice - when they really don't have one. With the monarchies, no one's pretending to have a voice.
The turmoil in the Middle East is a time of change in history. As powerful and influential countries fail to play the role that they can during this time, we've come to a stark recognition: it's only the people of the Middle East that can pick the winners and the losers.
Even in case of Tunisia or Egypt, i think people were just desperate for a new face only. While in these kingdoms of middle east, people really do enjoy social benefits and welfare.
ReplyDeleteStill humans are unpredictable social creatures :)
To me it seems like it is also a kind of conspiracy....and the leaders might change in the coming years but nothing will change in the system which may benefit people or the general public....it is all a kind of hype created, exaggerated and manipulated by media and international politicians :S
ReplyDelete:p Blogs don't need to be peer-reviewed before publishing, do they!
ReplyDeleteAnd when are you going to do something about your president, whom every single one of you absolutely abhor and despise?
Shoaib: I would like to hope it was more than just the need for a new face. Although there is no doubt in the fact that humans are unpredictable and we may never understand what people truly want. That is why I say, it is for them to choose.
ReplyDeleteSaher: Although reluctantly, I do find myself agreeing to what you said. And I say that from our experiences with our leaders.
Faisal: Uh-oh.. did I say something wrong about "your" King? It's different with "our" President though, "we" voted for his party.