Would Democracy in Morocco be a Good Thing? Posted by Shadi Hamid

Last week, some of you may have read the piece I co-wrote with Jeb Koogler on the “myth of Moroccan democracy.” Michael Van Der Galien posted a quick response where he expresses the concern that “[Shadi and Jeb] seem to assume that full democratization is in the interest of the Moroccan people, and in that of the West. The question whether or not this is true, however, remains.” Yes, the question for better or worse (probably worse) remains. I have given my own answer in past articles, including here, here, and here, where I lay out the case that Middle East democracy is in the long-term strategic interest of the West (to say nothing of the moral component).

Van Der Galien goes on to make the following claim, which strikes me as not a very nice thing to say about Moroccans (and, by extension, Arabs and Muslims):

I don’t believe that full democracy is in Morocco's best interest, nor in the best interest of the West. A large part of the Moroccan people is uneducated and socially extremely conservative (read strict, strict Muslims). They barely know how to take care of their own family. Should people like that be allowed to determine the fate of an entire country?

Jeb Koogler, my co-author, has already ably responded to Van Der Galien here. A few additional comments, though, are in order. Yes, people like that should be allowed to determine the fate of an entire country. The American people voted for Bush two times (or maybe just once), but that doesn’t disqualify them from voting. People have the right to make the wrong choice, and such a right – as a matter of principle – must be unwaveringly protected. Moreover, democracies where the populace is largely poor or uneducated aren’t limited to the Middle East. In fact, it’s probably more of a problem in many emerging African, Latin American, and Asian democracies (India being the most obvious example), where the economic situation and the sheer level of economic inequality is considerably higher than it is in the Middle East.

The crux of Van Der Galien’s argument, however, is this: “What the West should push for are: support for its own agenda and interests; resistence of terrorism and extremism; respect for human rights. We are best served with stability, not with Islamists ruling in the name of democracy.” This line of argument could not be more wrong. The West has been pushing for “its own agenda and interests” in the Middle East for the last five decades, and that hasn’t worked out too well, has it? After all, it was this Middle East – the one where we opted for “stability” over democracy – that produced the rise of jihadism and salafism, and gave us 9/11. In short, the kind of policy Van Der Galien would like to see is the kind of policy which has made the region the veritable powder keg it is today. Not only do Arabs suffer the consequences; we suffer them as well.

Comments

[Michael van der Galiën]

Shadi,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I will, in turn, respond to both your and Jeb's posts tomorrow.

One thing though:

which strikes me as not a very nice thing to say about Moroccans (and, by extension, Arabs and Muslims

To me, and I will try to make this clear in the article tomorrow, this hasn't got anything to do with the Moroccan people as such: I'm sure they're very friendly, moral people. What I mean to say is that they're not educated nor developed enough; one of the biggest mistakes one can make is to demand a knowledge and responsibility of a people who aren't yet ready for it. Looking back, I think that it made perfect sense for the rulers in the West to have quite strict rules for who was allowed to vote. No, today we in the West shouldn't demand of people that they have a college degree and / or property, but the situation on the ground has changed: back then, 'the people' were uneducated, uninformed and simply not able to make difficult decisions about their country. That's not an attack against them it's, as I see it, being realistic.

My point is not that they should never be allowed to vote, but not now. So, I would not call for full democracy just yet. Let change come slowly.

It took us several centuries to get where we are today, how can we expect other peoples to do in a couple of years what we did in centuries?

(also: my girlfriend is Muslim. I wasn't talking about Muslims in general, I was talking about extremely conservative Muslims - and no, I'm not arguing that they're bad people, I'm only arguing that one may not consider them best able to lead a country at this point in time. again, i don't see that as saying something bad about them personally, I consider it to be realistic / humane, considering that in certain countries, extremely conservative Muslims believe women who cheat should be stoned to death and that it's perfectly fine to circumsize girls)

[Cal]

Looking back, I think that it made perfect sense for the rulers in the West to have quite strict rules for who was allowed to vote. No, today we in the West shouldn't demand of people that they have a college degree and / or property...

If it was wise to have strict rules for voting before, then why is it different today? It seems to me you don't want to follow the logic of your own argument -- and with good reason.

The poll tax is one way the gov't barred the uneducated from voting, and the tax was sold in part by pointing out that the money would go for education. Given your concerns, I don't see how you could object.

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim." -- Thomas Macaulay

[UneducatedMoroccan]

I already responded to Mr. Van Der Galien on his blog site. I would like to say few more things about his response above. To hear Mr. Van Der Galien speaks, it makes one laugh, especially, when as a Moroccan, you have become a subject of discussion on a blog site, and it's not any discussion; it's one full of inaccurate information, bias, and arrogance. Since Mr. Van Der Galien is Dutch, I see where his venom against Moroccans is coming from; he is basing his knowledge on a context where the Moroccan, or rather the Dutch of Moroccan descent, is a second class citizen in a western democracy. Let us remind him that the so-called centuries old democracy where he lives was massacring natives in Java last century and still occupying Curacao and Dutch Antilles. Most Jews deported to Nazi camps came from the Netherlands. I do not call a country democratic that occupies other countries and fails to raise the standards of its citizens of foreign descent.
He is calling the Moroccan friendly and moral, was this even a question? This kind of rhetoric is very condescending and marred by a colonial attitude that still views the West as superior. Moroccan democracy is a fact and it is born out of the struggle of the many dissidents who, in the lead years, sacrificed their lives for the well-being of their citizens. There is a long way to go before we can really say Morocco is a democracy, but until then let's look in our backyard, change our attitude, and be ready to accept an Arab democracy. That might just be the hardest thing to do.

[Michael van der Galiën]

"He is calling the Moroccan friendly and moral, was this even a question? This kind of rhetoric is very condescending and marred by a colonial attitude that still views the West as superior."

That's probably because our political system and culture is superior.

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