By Fareed Mahdy Courtesy IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
ISTANBUL (IDN) - Seemingly, the Arab region has now entered an advanced phase of the so-called "creative chaos" doctrine, which was shaped by the neo-conservative administration chaired by the former White House occupant, and spelt out by its Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Should it be so -- and the events seem to prove it is so --, two key questions would necessarily jump to one's mind, without questioning the legitimacy of the popular uprising against dictatorial regimes: when did such "creative chaos" start? Where will it lead to?.
The history of such an ill-minded doctrine goes back to over three decades ago, with the arrival to power of both the "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher in Britain, and the Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan in the United States.
Their policies pushed the Western bloc -- and consequently the whole planet -- towards a strong wave of neo-liberalism, led by the conservatives, and the free marketeers and warlords who dominate the military establishment.
Then came the collapse of the Soviet bloc to give a strong impetus to this long-term strategy.
In the Middle East in particular, the "creative chaos" doctrine began to crystallise primarily in the Kuwait invasion trap into which Iraq was pushed, to show London and Washington as supreme savers of the region from the long tyranny ruling it -- under their heavy protection.
And here came the timing of September 11 attacks, which took President George W. Bush to talk about a "crusade," and to dismiss top officials in the U.S. intelligence establishment just because they dared heralding that they had already warned the White House, well in advance, of the possibility of such attacks.
The fact is that the neo-liberals and neo-conservatives -- hand in hand with the market masters and the war lords-- occupied Afghanistan, invaded Iraq, smashed Pakistan, and turned the whole world up side down against Iran. As if all this were not enough, they seem to plan now for a shattered Lebanon.
In the meantime, the streets of Algeria, Jordan and Yemen are a quasi permanent stage of popular protests; Sudan is now divided into two states with dangerous consequences -- such as the strangulation of Egypt with food and water shortage caused by controlling the course of the River Nile, while mutilating it also geographically, from the so-called "Arab world", let alone the fate of Sudan itself.
All of this seems to be part of the "creative chaos" doctrine to fragment the region into small, forever submissive minor states.
In a few words, the following Arab countries are standing on the tipping point of this "creative chaos": Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and of course Palestine. Syria will likely be the next target.
The Arab peoples' right to democracy, justice, freedom and human development are all unquestionably legitimate. These are the very rights that the Western bloc -- now dominated by the market and the warlords -- has been publicly voicing, while supporting dictatorial regimes suffocating them.
The outcome of the Arab popular aspirations, which started in Tunisia and continue with Egypt (at the time writing), will be positive, regardless of their dictators' failed attempts to hold power.
The fear is that the outcome will be sooner rather than later handled by the unlimited grid of market and warlords. (IDN-InDepthNews/
