January 2013

Heretic’s Musings on What It All Means

This paper draws some conclusions about longer-term and wider-area implications of the so-called Arab Spring. According to the author, the Greater Middle East has crossed the threshold of a historic transformation – namely, the reversal of the modernization and state-building process, and the commitment instead to a myth-driven Caliphate-based utopian posture that is yet to be defined. The increasingly destitute populace is seeking solace and remedy in sub-national frameworks at the expense of their recognition of, and loyalty to, the state. These trends lead to the inevitable clash with the realities of a modern world where international and economic relations are based on states as the sole building blocks of the world order, according to the author.

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