The Arab world is politically in turmoil. The massive demonstrations in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordon and Palestine have surprised not only the world but also the dictators and autocrats ruling there. After enduring decades of repression and exploitations, people showed their anger and power. The question is that what ideology is playing behind this: religious fundamentalism or nationalism?
To trace the history of the Arab nationalism, we have to analyse the events of the First World War. It was the time when the entire Middle East and North Africa were under the Ottoman Caliphate. When the Ottomans joined the World War against the Allied forces, the British made attempts to create a movement of Arab nationalism against the Ottomans. Lawrence of Arabia played an important role to create the nationalist sentiments and organised revolts against the Ottomans. The defeat of the Ottomans in the war decided the fate of the Middle East.
Britain and France, on the basis of the secret pact, reshaped the map of the Middle East. The Saudis were supported to capture Hijaz and Najad, which they named Saudi Arabia. The Hashmid family was awarded the kingship of Iraq and Jordan. Syria and Lebanon were given to France under the mandatory system. Balfour, the foreign minister of Britain, announced support to the establishment of the state of Israel. The Arab leaders were powerless to challenge this new order. The nationalism which was sponsored by the British agent failed to create any sense of dignity and honour amongst them. They surrendered to the Western powers without any protest. The first wave of nationalism liberated them from the Ottomans but enslaved them to Western imperialism.
This political system remained intact up to the 1950s when the second wave of the Arab nationalism appeared among the young military officers who wanted to change the system and to get rid of the kings who were ruling as despots and playing as puppets in the hands of Western imperialism. The result was that in Egypt, young army officers under Gamal Abdel Nasser led the military coup in 1956 and expelled King Farouq. The coup was widely welcomed by the people who saw a bright future in the change. It was followed by another army officer Karim Qasim in Iraq, who in 1958 overthrew the kingship in Iraq. The people of Iraq enthusiastically supported him and showed the anger by dragging the dead body of Nuri-al-Said, the prime minister, in the streets of Baghdad. In 1969, Col. Qaddafi following the foot steps of Nasser ended the monarchy in Libya.
In the second wave of nationalism, the Arab intellectuals fully contributed to make it strong and effective. The Baith party in Iraq and Syria presented a radical philosophy to restructure the Arab world. Al-Husri, a Syrian intellectual, launched a campaign to unite the Arab world on the basis of linguistic nationalism which was secular in character. The Christian writers of the Arab world also contributed to make the Arabic language rich and resourceful in order to bind the Arab people in a single unit beyond borders.
The second wave of the Arab nationalism was from the above and not from the below. It was first initiated by the young army officials who had a vision to change the destiny of the Arab world. They were supported by the intellectuals to stimulate the sentiments of nationalism who also provided an ideological base for it. However, the second wave also failed to rebuild the Middle East as per the wishes of its leaders. After the Arab-Israel war of 1967, the final nail in the coffin of this wave of nationalism was the death of Nasser. The Baith party in Iraq and Syria were converted into dictatorships. The same pattern was followed in other Arab countries. The region was then ostensibly ruled either by monarchs or dictators but they were under the grip of American imperialism.
The recent wave of Arab nationalism is different because it has emerged from the ground and is bottoms up as opposed to top-down (as was the case in the second wave). The people have initiated and sustained it. It appears that people have failed to achieve their motives to change the basic structure of political system as the Arab states are not ready to admit the demands of common people. However, for the first time, the people have realised that they have power and they can fight against the state. People have also realised that the dictators and monarchs are not in their favour and they will not hesitate from massacring their own people to save their rule.
So far, those who had ruled in the name of revolution have been exposed. There is no doubt that the third wave of Arab nationalism is a turning point in the history of Middle East. It has always happened in history, that on the eve of change, rulers have tried to placate the inflame demotions of people by announcing some kind of reforms. The same thing is being witnessed in the Middle East: Qaddafi in Libya and the King in Saudi Arabia have both declared to provide financial assistance to their people. However, the protests are still going on in Yemen and Bahrain unabated. It is hoped that the third wave of Arab nationalism will bring a change in the near future, not radically but constitutionally to weaken the powers that rule the Arab world right now.
The writer is one of the pioneers of alternate history in the country.
