A conversation on TED.com: what is the future of the arab world?

Krisztián Pintér
Budapest
Hungary

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what is the future of the arab world?

the recent events in north africa and the arab peninsula opens the way to free societies, busy working on their better future.

i'd like to invite anyone living there, or anyone having insight of the arab world, to share your knowledge and thoughts. what are the possible, optimistic outcomes? what kind of structure the new arab world will have? will they form democratic countries? will they form more traditional society? will they create a larger formation, like an arab version of the eu? will the pan-arab dream ever come true? is this dream exist at all?

personally, i would be the happiest to see the arab world uniting, granting people freedom to trade, freedom to move and freedom to speak, learn and improve their lives as they see fit. is this a realistic wish?

please share your views.

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Vijay Bhaskar
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Mar 11 2011: People in Middle east and North Africa do need a change. Enough of Dictatorship and Monarchy. People are entangled in the webs of Cruel or rather Cold blooded Regimes.Democracy is the only way For a nation to march in a developmental path. It will be great if people in Arab countries unite. More than that,the arab world lacks in various aspects of development.
Philip Crume
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Mar 10 2011: Unfortunately I think things will get a lot worse before they get better. We are probably going to see civil wars erupt as the internal division between secularization and Islamization comes out into the open. The western media likes to call it a democratic uprising but it is simply an uncoordinated revolt. When the dust settles the major cultural schism of North Africa and the Middle East (NA-ME) will become apparent, and like a game of capture the flag, there will be a no-man's land between the two where winner takes all. Considering that Egypt is intellectual powerhouse of the Islamic world, I would be surprised if it doesn't adopt Sharia law or become the Sunni equivalent of Iran.
- Krisztián Pintér 100+
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  TED Translator
  
  Mar 10 2011: my only hope can be that these cultural differences do not necessarily cause violent clashes. i have india in my mind, with hundreds of cultures, different languages and religions, often leading to quarrels and even violent events sometimes, but overall, the country is in a good shape, and developing peacefully. is it possible in the arab world?
  - Vijay Bhaskar
    
    0
    Mar 11 2011: Thank You Mr.Krisztián Pintér for quoting India as an Example.
  - Philip Crume
    
    0
    Mar 11 2011: Hinduism is a single culture with many faces. It uses fuzzy logic and for the most part is oriented only for Indians.
    
    Islam is not. It has no gray areas. It relies on binary logic and asserts that it should encompass all people. It sees itself as perfect and not in need of change, revision, or upgrading. It assumes that the system is not in need of change but that people are. Either you are in submission to it or are not. It's similar to the Christian idea of sin, which is an archery term that means "to miss the bullseye." Either you hit the bullseye or haven't. Christians talk about submission but are less overt about it.
    
    Will the Arab world be open to other interpretations of the world outside of the strict teachings of Islam, and its system of laws? That is the real question. The optimist in me wants to believe it is possible. The pessimist thinks it'll never happen.