The Original Sin: The Failure of the Arab State

Abstract

This chapter argues that the “authority vacuum” that followed the revolutions against Arab authoritarian regimes — affecting state’s ability to deliver public services which influenced citizens’ human and state’s national security — is the symptom rather than the cause of the current turmoil. Arab populations protesting in 2011 against poverty, corruption and poor services, are now facing worse conditions than those they have protested against. The original sin is the failure/ weakness of the post-colonial Arab state in its pursuit of modernity. Arab republics, set up by revolutions/ coups in the 1950s and the 1960s, promised to establish a modern, democratic state based on socio-economic justice. Nevertheless, four decades later, Arab states were still lagging behind in economic and political development, social justice, and the provision of services. Injustices were kept silent by the heavy hand of the regimes which, once challenged or toppled, gave way to the current turmoil.