There is no doubt that international qualitative continuous change that distinguished the last two decades of the twentieth century and the influenced politics, economics and scientific progress formed a new historical contemporary era that put our planet facing a new historical stage. The changes that took place have not been foreseen – in neither effects nor magnitude – by any of the politicians or thinkers regardless of their optimism or pessimism or their ties to decision makers. Particularly unexpected, was the horrible collapse of the international socialist camp and the national liberation movements on one hand and the as horrible setback and regression - though temporary - in the ideological or intellectual structure of socialist forces and national liberation movements on the other hand. This destabilized all balance of forces and interest that prevailed during the bipolar period of the cold war. This provided all necessary factors for the mono polar order or globalization under the domination of the US imperialism that imposed its hegemony on our planet. Its self-proclamation as the only victor gives it the right to determine the nature of international relations according to neo liberal concepts.
The development of the concept of globalization and its negative effects
Following the great material change whose effects have spread around our planet; and after that international capitalism was liberated from all limits on expansion influenced by the huge qualitative development in communication, information and technology, and establishing huge giant international economical blocks. In addition, there was a need to develop and produce epistemological, political and economical structures excusing and reinforcing this international mono polar system. That took place in an atmosphere of acceptance or negative adjustment and sometimes participation by European countries, Japan and the federal Russia.
In addition the defeated broken ambiance in the third world (or countries of the periphery) and the regimes there became ready to receive and obey the political, economical intellectual and material conditions imposed by imperialism. This was the expression of regimes in crisis which most of have lost or nearly lost their national conscious. They prepared their countries to go along with the “new” world order with slogans such as free international trade, restructuring, adapting and privatization. These considered as necessary pivots to activate the mechanisms of the “new” world order or globalization.
Globalization as a phenomenon is the result of favorable objective and subjective conditions – international and regional – and is not a historical necessity as preached by its defenders and those who submit to its humiliating conditions. It is not an ad hoc form of human development but rather a continuing process – in the historical, political, economical and epistemological sense - of capitalist development. Capitalism never stopped expanding and developing rapidly or slowly since its birth in the fifteenth century passing by its establishment in the eighteenth and its development to the imperialist form in the late nineteenth century.
In this period of globalized imperialism the capitalist system, aims – along the logic of brutal force – of going back to the rules of the fifteenth century and the destructive mechanisms based on selfish competition assuring the upper hand of the strongest to expropriate local surplus value in our countries as well in all those of the periphery. This is carried out with the old slogan “let do, let pass” as a clear request to assure hegemony and which is the target of current globalizing capitalist centers. To guarantee this coercive expansion imperialism uses military force and occupation or / and subordinated regimes. This strategy is carried out against the interests of poor people of the world in the name of privatization, free markets and neo liberalism with a fake cover of liberal “democracy” and human rights. The programs of “reform and adjustment” represent as expressed by Dr. RAMZI ZAKI “the first international project, carried out by world capitalism in its history to reintegrate the countries of the third world in the capitalist economy from a position of weakness. That assures the weakening of the state apparatus and deprives the state of economical surplus. These are the two principal foundations of neo liberalism”.
It should be mentioned that the hegemony of the economical dimension as the primary challenge of globalization does not signify omitting the relation between that dimension and the political, cultural and social dimensions of globalization. These challenges must be faced in our Arab countries in light of the regression and near collapse in several unstable regimes. The political role regressed and was confiscated by the global US positions, and the progressive nationalist patriotic culture gave way to the consumerist culture on one hand and to the reactionary one on the other hand. Finally the economical dangers influence negatively the social structure of our societies by widening the gap between the rich and the poor by reinforcing the accumulation of wealth with the few and impoverishing and marginalizing the great majority of popular and working classes.
This trend in the Arab societies reinforced the previous forms of political and economical dependence in most of the Arab countries to the extent that they became merely the executers of US orders and reduced the role of the state to protecting the interest joint foreign and local capital. This caused the regression of the productive role of the state and a weakening in its services, which were allocated - in the past – to cover some of the needs of the popular classes.
The decline in the political and social role of the state in favor of personal bureaucratic comprador and parasitic interest in the name of privatization and free market cause the dismantling of the social structure seen in the reproduction and the renewal of reactionary structures and their offshoots such as sectarian, religious and family structures. This was paired with widening the social gaps and abnormal movements in the class structure resulting from the accumulating of sudden new wealth generated by corruption.
These deteriorating conditions are the result of the crisis of political, economical, and social development in third world countries in general. They strengthened the subservience and dependence of these countries toward capitalism and its dictates. Expansion is an inherent nature of capitalism, political developments resulted in a new more aggressive strategy of globalized capital aiming at subordinating everybody to the needs of the American hegemonic project and became more brutal after what happened on 11/9/2001.
This policy expresses two strategic goals reinforcing economical globalization, which means the supremacy of the market on an international level and the destruction of the capabilities of states, nations and people to resist politically.
This is the essence of global imperialism in the twenty first century, which is not a new world order, but the extension of the capitalist process based on expansion. It is also, the continuity of its contradictions in an international situation with no balance of power. This is why the USA, as the only hegemonic force in our era, fills the vacuum resulting from the collapse of the previous international equilibriums in such a savage dominant manner.
The political, economical and ideological vacuum paves the way for more expansion and control for capitalism. Global capitalism illustrates
its true savage nature by the practices against poor people of the world, and against human values of social justice and equality. That takes place with the aid of international institutions serving global capitalism and which are:
1.The International Monetary Fund that governs the management of the international monetary system dictating its policies and basic rules, by implementing the programs of privatization and structural adjustment and by managing loans and interest and administering opening the markets of developing countries to goods and capital from the industrial countries of the center.
2. The World Trade Organization which is the most important and most dangerous among the economic institutions of globalization, it administers the world trade system aiming at liberalizing international trade and removing custom barriers and assuring free market and merchandise free circulation no later than 2005, in direct coordination with multinational companies assuring them a central place in world economy.
In light of the policies and conditions determined by the World Bank and IMF and by the WTO the trade policies of dependant countries became for the first time in history an international or globalized matter and not a subject of patriotic sovereignty or national interest… Contrary to what was written by intellectuals of globalization, defenders of privatizations, liberalism and free international trade and its positive effects on developing countries, the results of the integration of these countries in the global capitalis system signals out some realities :
1. Even though the volume of international trade reached 7.6 trillion $ in the year 1995 (in the beginning of 2002 it reached 9 trillion $ annually) the part of the developing countries remained stable in the last three decades at about 18% including that of the oil exporting countries, although people living in these countries represent 75% of the world population. The participation of developing countries in the world gross product regressed from 15.5% in 1965 to 13.5% in 1995.
2. Although the ideologues of globalization, and free trade and investment alleged that developing countries would benefit from pouring foreign direct investments; this did not take place in the last two decades 90% of the movement of direct investment went to developed countries (USA, Europe, Japan and China), developing countries gained less than 10% of that movement.
3. The over all sum of debt in developing countries sky rocketed in the last decade from 603.3 billion $ in 1980 to 2172 billion $ in 1997. The interest and debt service went up more than 100% in some countries which meant aggravating suffering of third world people where 1.5 billion person live in extreme poverty and less than 400 billionaires in the capitalist world have more than 2.5 billion human beings in the southern hemisphere.
4. The globalization of money markets and the accompanying measures of free financial movements had important and dangerous effects on developing countries. Canceling barriers regarding transactions of capital accounting and payment balances … stimulated crises in the monetary apparatus, permitted money laundering and exposed countries to attacks money speculators and the weakening of national sovereignty over financial and monetary policies, and which encouraged the flee of national capital to the outside.
It is therefore clear that developing countries suffer from an unfavorable situation in the world economy. Their condition is deteriorating rapidly because of the globalization process the liberalizing of their economy and their integration in the global economy. This integration and sudden change to abide by the rule of liberalism had negative, and sometimes catastrophic consequences on their economy. Their development faced many obstacles and they lost the ability of protecting their national industry. They faced expensive knowledge and technology and unfair competition with foreign imports. In addition these countries confronted the threat of multi national conglomerates taking over their national projects and services, which means losing their sovereignty concerning development and trade plans in favor of the WTO.
Globalization and the Arab contemporary situation and possibilities of the future
In this temporary situation of a mono polar world governed by power and force, American Imperialism fond its chance to expand its hegemony around the world in general and in our Arab region in particular. It used the pretext of “fighting terrorism” which could be translated to fighting every possibility or movement trying to develop elements of force and democratic national liberation, social justice and Arab unity. Its real goal, is to consecrate the subservience of the people of our nation and our continued under development. Their aim is to restructure and recondition our nation to guarantee that we follow their policies in an obedient way. That is to renew the functional role of the Zionist enemy and its state, so that “Israel” becomes a “central state” in the Arab world and the region, and other states become peripheries of that center. All that serving the global American interests and assuring the integration and the normalization of “Israel” politically and economically, which mean the destruction of the Arab national security and the Zionist control of the totality of the Palestinian land, the Golan and the future of the region.
This bitter situation we described is linked to the present moment of the Arab scene, it does not express the reality of our countries and the possibilities of change. Despite that defeatist intellectuals or those driven by selfish interests consider that what was designed has materialized, and that the US imperialism and its alley the Zionist movement and “Israel” were successful in destroying the Arab will, we are conscious that this gloomy picture does not express the march of our popular masses towards liberation, democracy, progress and social justice. The gloomy image of our nation has its negation which is the popular mass movement, the relation between those two contradictions explain the historical developments in the Arab world. We are sure that after the current situation our people will rise up to take in theirs hands the development of our nation.
Our belief in the Arab mass movement and in our ability to resolve the Zionist Arab conflict in accordance with the wishes and interests of our nation does not signify that we believe in historical determinism, but that mean the will to activate and prepare the factors of democratic modern change and to find these elements within our objective reality. This view allows us to surpass the futile politics of the official Arab and Palestinian leadership. Since Camp David and the Madrid conference, passing by the Oslo, Wadi Arabah and Sharm Al Sheikh agreements, and arriving to the Tenet plan (director of the CIA !), our cause have been in a vicious circle, we offered more and more concessions and ended up begging for charity. The official leadership lost its direction after omitting our historical unalienable rights.
The current situation experienced by our people is the result of the division of our nation. This downward trend is the result of the accumulation of the Sykes – Picot agreement, which divided our nation in 1916, and the Belfor declaration 1917. The first NAKBA of our Palestinian people in 1948 and the failure of the Arab unity between Egypt and Syria in 1961 were accumulated to the past. This downward trend intensified after the defeat of 1967 and the signing of the Camp David agreements in 1979 and continued until today.
The last 25 years represented a regression without precedent in our modern history. The possibilities of national renaissance and patriotic liberation of the sixties were replace today by inner State strife and our nation is nothing but a sum of idle individuals without any importance in the international arena. The majority of states and theirs apparatus in the Arab world became mere tools of imperialism. The rest became incapable of confronting the enemy. In addition leftist democratic and nationalist parties have lost their capacity – because of objective and subjective reasons – to influence popular movements.
The official Arab position represents a barrier facing the development of the Arab patriotic and nationalist project. This allowed the exceptional hegemony of the Zionist enemy in our region paired with the imperialist remodeling of the Arab system in politics, economics and culture, to the extent where the Arab states demand only to be recognized within the negotiation process and not the opposite.
Though we realize that the regression in our area is not isolated from what is taking place in the globalized international relations, we have to point out the responsibility ruling old / new social classes. The phenomenon of globalization could be and is a dangerous process in our region, nevertheless it could have benefits for those who have the will and determination to develop their countries. The defeatist attitude of our States is the real cause of the regression in our area and not the current historical development of capitalism.
This is why to talk about Arab unity or the renewal of the national renaissance project we should emphasize a revolutionary objective vision for the national liberation movement. This movement is a historic necessity imposed by the contradictions of the modern Arab society on one hand, and is the negation of the current situation on the other. The following facts must be clear for any fruitful work :
1. this vision must have a unifying stand to overcome the division of our nation imposed by imperialism, it should struggle for unifying the Arab masses so the they become a force capable of influencing the historical change on the Arab and International level.
2. It should absorb the basic character of the modern European culture of enlightenment that is scientific reasoning and critical creativity in a democratic and free ambiance. There should be a clear understanding of the objective material and social existence, and its significance in seizing the historical task of the Arab subject. The determination of change must stem from understanding that it is the human being is the artisan of history and who is able to innovate and change his conditions. That should be based on democratic bases targeting social justice and socialism. Our struggle against imperialism and Zionism is to regain the control of our wealth and develop our society and that could not take place without a socialist program and conscious able to turn over the productive existing relations in favor of a collective and cooperative vision of society.
The dual dialectic relationship between the nationalist vision and the ideology of scientific socialism and their simultaneous application both in theory and practice in the spirit of our times is the ideological framework that provides the base for a dialogue to arrive to the best program for democratic change.
The situation of the Arab world is catastrophic to the extent the Constantin Zuriek, one of the precursors of Arab nationalism have said in 1998: “this situation forces me to avoid using the term Arab nation, I prefer to use Arab society.” This is not a sign of hopelessness but the will to develop the idea of nationalism. According to the nationalist philosopher nationalism is not a romantic political movement but a comprehensive secular path for the progress of the nation. Its goal is to confront the factors hindering its development, he summed in the following:
• The absence of the masse in the political scene.
• The absence of the important questions of democracy, development, social justice and the equality of chances.
• The absence of the scientific method and reason in understanding the problems.
• The absence of positive social values and not behaving accordingly in the public and private sphere.
Several progressive leftist and nationalist forces, parties, and intellectuals are discussing the current crisis in the Arab world. They reached that there are three manifestations of the crisis:
1. political manifestation ;
2. economical manifestation ;
3. social manifestation.
1. The political manifestation of the crisis.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, the imperialist aggression against and the “Arab Israeli peace plans”, and the normalization of relations that followed are the most important signs of political regression among the Arab countries.
This change was the result of an accumulative process the replace the nature of the principle contradiction with the Zionist enemy to a relation of accommodation after the Camp David Accords in 1979. The recognition of the right of “Israel” to exist, as a legitimate sate in the region was assured. Even without imposing that, this entity accepts the political rights of the Palestinian people in the west Bank and Gaza (and also the rights of Syria over the Golan and Lebanon in the Shaba farms) which is the essence of land for peace, was the clearest sign of the impuissance of the Arab regimes.
The integration of the Arab regimes in the global system weakened them further; they could not even have a policy based on the international resolutions such as 194, 242 and 338. This situation developed to the extent that today they lost the will to refuse Zionist and American dictates, like what happened with the Mitchel plan and the Saudi plan that stipulates the full normalization with the Zionist entity. The control of interior development and distribution of wealth was in the hands of the IMF and World Bank therefore they lost all space for even political maneuver.
The most important expression of the political crisis is the qualitative change that took place in the Arab system. In the sixties this system was founded on a national and social liberation program, today the majority of the Arab regimes are subservient to imperialism. In other words, the antagonist nature of the contradiction with Zionism and imperialism seized to exist, the patriotic and nationalist aspect of development was hindered. This allowed secondary contradictions to surface and globalization to work on dividing existing state structure along ethnic, linguistic or religious lines (Sudan, Algeria, and Egypt). Religious fundamentalist movements became political realities and their reactionary programs considered as political agendas. In Lebanon, imperialism is pushing its lackeys lo create problems for Syria. The most dangerous role is played by the Saudi regime in fully surrendering to the hegemony of the USA on one hand, and encouraging and financing religious political fundamental movements on the other.
The foreign pressure that attempts to organize the world in a way that is best for the imperialist political and economical interests and that tries to dismantle all factors of Arab national renaissance in favor of a “western civilizing project” in the name of neo liberalism, privatization and free markets and trade.
Though we realize the magnitude of the external pressure and admit that the principle contradiction is with imperialism and Zionism, we think that the internal situation is the main factor that determines the outcome of that contradiction. It is impossible to analyze the Arab political situation without understanding the internal economical social development. The internal situation is the main pivot form the subordination of the Arab system to capitalist centers. The slow but accelerating accumulation in the economical situation permitted the control of a parasitic, bureaucratic, commercial and financial class over the social and political structure. It took place in contradiction with the interests of popular masses and in accordance with the imperialist global interests. This is an environment of liberal economy and free trade.
This is the essence of the paradox or the political crisis in the Arab contemporary system. It has two dimensions, a liberating dimension on the patriotic and national level, and a social democratic one on the internal level. This is the paradox that could not be resolve without establishing a political regime the expresses and serves the interests of the popular masses.
Nationalist progressive forces struggling for change must face the following important question: why did the forces have several factors of force concerning its organizational structures or concerning the adherence of the masses to their programs in the period of the 40’s until the late 60’s of the last century despite that the objective conditions were not ready?? why did the factors of weakness accumulate among all of these forces in this period?? although the objective conditions are ripe. What is the role of the intellectual today, given the failure of the Arab system to resolve any of our problems (on the internal or external level). If the progressive democratic forces remained incapable of change our regression will continue!
2. The economical manifestation of the crisis
The failure of the liberal policies imposed by the IMF and World Bank, known under the name structural adjustment or reform, is the clear expression of the economical crisis. This failure was not a surprise for many experts from the third world because these policies lacked any reference to development, economic liberation and social progress and justice. Third world countries lost their ability to have policies that contradict the interests of world capitalism our its local representatives. Privatization as said “is nothing but the redistribution of wealth in favor of a local and international bourgeoisie where the state productive assets are transferred to be appropriated by a private sector regardless of nationality or identity”.
Today, two decades after executing the policies of the IMF by the third world countries and most of the Arab states, the outcome is clearly negative. These countries not only failed in developing their economies, but theirs internal and external debt skyrocketed to the extent that some failed to pay the debt service and interest. Growth has diminished and some countries had negative growth, many companies went bankrupt. These economies experienced several predicaments :
1. The governments rendered responsibility of growth to the private sector – in accordance with the dictates of the IMF and WB. This sector could not fill the gap because its only goal is profit.
2. Failure to increase internal capital growth or to attract foreign investment.
3. Failure to export and the fleeing of local capital.
4. Although the role of the governments was setback –in accordance with restructuring plans – these governments failed to find financing for the limited public expenditure, because the income stipulated by the IMF and WB did not come true.
5. All the bragging of the human development –the slogan created by the WB – was nothing but illusions. Education and health programs regressed, fighting poverty was a mirage, and the gap between rich and poor widened.
6. Planning took the backstage and governments limited their role to observation and direction setting which meant a setback in development planning.
7. It has been proven that liberal democracy, as applied by the directives of the IMF and WB was nothing but a concerted plan seeking to erode the social base of democracy, i.e. the popular masses. These masses were marginalized, while encouraging parasitic comprador capital in alliance with foreign global multinationals to take over the state to and to impose decisions on internal and external matters.
These predicaments show clearly the economical and social setback suffered by our popular masses. It put poor people of the third world in unprecedented misery. All these measures served to weaken the state, cancel subsidizing basic goods, destroy the public sector, ant to continually transfer the states economical surplus to the private sectors (local and international) along the plans of privatization and free market mechanisms.
In the Arab world the application of the plans of global capital had the following results:
1. The weakening of the state and of the perception of the state by the people. The state has become no more than a tool of global capital.
2. The rise of unemployment and poverty. Officially, 12% of the labor force is unemployed (2002) that is more than 20 million. People living below the poverty line (1 $ per person per day) are more than 90 million persons, most in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Palestine and Yemen.
3. The deficit in food self-sufficiency is growing. Food demand is rising 6% annually while production rise is 2% per year. Arab agricultural trade deficit reached 17 billion $ and that of food trade 15 billion $ (1997). These numbers will increase even for the same sum of good after lifting the agricultural subsidies in Europe and the USA. The price of bread will soar and poverty will widen.
4. Inter Arab trade had a setback. In 1964, when an Arab common market was declared, inter Arab trade was 4.6% of the Sum of Arab trade, 35 years later it is 3.4%. This trend will intensify with applying the directives of the WTO in 2005. 90% of Arab investment is in non Arab countries. In addition, expenditure of luxury services and weapons that never been used was at a rate of 100 billion$ per year in the last 20 year. That sums up to 2 trillion $ of easy money to the military complex of the states of the center, in the time where the real income per capita had zero or negative growth.
5. The share of the Arab world in world GDP went down from 3.1% (630 billion $) in 1993 to 2.1% (599 billion $) in 1997 and 2.3% (700 billion $) in 2000 (the raise is because of oil prices).
The rise or drop in the Arab GDP (in absolute numbers or percentages) depends on four main factors: 1. The rise or drop in oil prices. 2. The regression in the volume of the industrial production. That will deepen after 2005. The opening of local markets to import will have catastrophic effect on Arab local industry. 3. The decrease in the agricultural production. We cultivate les than 40% of the available fertile land (135 million acres). 4. The fact that we do not use the 800 billion $ of our financial surplus, that is in foreign western capitalist countries, for internal industrial and agricultural investments. The Arab Gulf States realize this problem and that they do not represent but 20 % of the Arab population though they produce 50% of the Arab GDP. The gap between the standard of living in the Arab world is unbelievable and that can cause several problems of instability in the area. In Yemen and the Sudan the annual income per person is less than 500 $, between 1000 – 1500 $. In Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan and Palestine (after the intifada it was less than 1200 $ in the West Bank and less than 800$ in Gaza). In Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE it is between 15000 – 22000 $, and in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Libya.
6. In the time when the Arab economy is regressing year after the other because of the policies dictated by Global capitalism and its tools (IMF and WB) the economy of “Israel” continued to grow, especially after the signing of “peace” agreements (after the Intifada the economy of “Israel” experienced a setback). Some examples:
• The number of countries that recognize “Israel” as a State went up from 62 in 1992 to 153.
• The ending of the Arab and Muslim countries embargo offered more than 45 billion $ annually.
• The GDP went up from 65 billion $ in 1993 to 100 billion $ in 2000.
• Per capita income went up from 12000 $ in 1993 to 19000$ in 2000 (in the West Bank and Gaza 1000 $ with the same price index).
• Foreign investment went up from 400 million $ in 1991 to 8.3 billion $ in 1999 (in the West Bank and Gaza it does not exceed 300 million).
• Income from tourism reached 3 billion $.
• Arab trade with “Israel” is growing slowly but continuously and is about 1 billion $ now but could reach 10 billion $ if the peace agreement of Saudi Arabia is implemented.
This examples demand that more understanding is given to the crises to comprehend the relation between globalization and under development to arrive at the solution that opts for the Arab national democratic alternative.
To confront the globalization of defeat we must Know the realities of our society so that we could clearly pave the way for action depending on our people. That also means that we should master the technologies of our time and base our action on reason and science and modernity with an ideological optic of social justice and socialism.
The fundamental issue for the democratic alternative on the state or national level is real political and economical independence. It is independent development with self-sufficiency as a goal. It is the development of labor productivity in a democratic just atmosphere where workers know that they will share justly the riches created. This is why the development that we talk about is much different than that professed by several NGO’s linked to imperialism. To say it briefly economical development is tied closely to national liberation and social justice.
3. The social manifestation of the crisis.
The major crisis in the Arab society at this phase appears in multi - dimension situations when historical changes are taking place in the name of globalization in an accelerated way. Such changes imply challenges our societies in an unprecedented manner. To face these challenges we should master science and knowledge. Ideological alienation in both of its forms, the fundamentalist and the westernized, is the most important internal factor that reproduces backwardness and despotism. It also preserves pre national social formations. The relation between the ideological political level and the social economic one is dialectical in both directions. Given that the political level is limited and governed by the level of dominant social consciousness.
The crisis in the Arab society in its essence is due to the Arab countries living away from modernism and civilization; it does not belong to it, to start with. This is because, structurally speaking, it does not possess tools of dependence, and it lacks epistemological modern its tools that permit to determine the nature of Arab social development and its dialectical relation with the international or human civilization and modernism.
Although we entered the twenty-first century, the Arab countries live in the fifteenth century. They live in the pre - renaissance and the pre capitalist era despite capitalist relations they have been building. The Arab society did not digest the culture of enlightenment and reason. It did not seize the scientific bases and critical spirit of modernism. The relation between the change, creativity, and democratic environment was rarely addressed. In the absence of this cultural progress, it is difficult to comprehend the material and social existence of the nation and its objective historical role. It is impossible to isolate them from each other for this situation, but it is definite that our societies experience a deformed productive mode where semi - tribal, feudal, and capitalist forms are mingled together to arrive at what we have today of distorted economic and social conditions.
Today, our societies encounter transitional phase while its final objectives are still indeterminate. This reality is reinforced because of the wide hegemony of parasitic, bureaucratic comprador nature of capitalist classes, which prevent any democratic progress. This is the result of integration to the new globalized capitalist regime on the one hand, and the stabilization of subordinated, reactionary and autocratic regimes on the other.
This deformed manner in economic relations deepens the social crisis in Arab societies. Corruption is wide spread as a direct result of free market policies and privatization as well as the collapse of national social and political values. This paves the way to reinforce favoritism and family relations. One can wake up in the morning and finds out that his neighbor through doubtful deals becomes in an over night a millionaire.
Public interests and the rule of law are only scripts on paper. What is worrying in particular is that corruption is becoming the norm that governs and directs the political and social relations. Thus, corrupt “institution” has the power to control the leadership in our countries, and direct them through managing the crisis by another one.
The greatest dilemma is that the democratic progressive nationalist forces are in regression. They did not seize the importance of uniting Marxist and nationalist concepts to overcome the division and to pave the way for an enlightened combat against imperialism and globalization. This regression opened the way for the religious political forces to develop a strong base among the popular masses, especially because they are seen in an opposition to American imperialism and Zionism.
Although, world now lives modernism and civilization, Arab society in regression through unprecedented manner of underdevelopment for more than hundred years. In addition to the prevailing traditional patterns of tribalism, sectarianism and religious fundamentalism, our society is truly described as “having a very diversified structure and social attachment, thus lives in the pre civilized era”.
Man in our society does not live in the core of events and is subjected to all types of aggression. Not only is he cautious of the possibilities of collapse, but also he does not think of his principal issues. Fact and history influence him without exerting any effort to change them.
The value of that general description of human life implies promoting Arab progressive forces, in order to study the development of Arab social life.
In fact, we will undoubtedly address the overlapped social, economic, and cultural phenomena resulted from the crisis through studying the social, economical and political crisis in our societies, in general.
These phenomena took place after unprecedented intensification of military, political, and economical hegemony of USA on our society.
In the light of this, one can say that the Arab thinkers have great responsibility on human and national demands. The future should have an attempt to get out of the current predicament relations in this critical stage.
Although, capitalism has succeeded in delaying exploitation, through expanding contradictory areas in the name of globalization, it will inevitably increase the suffering of and impoverishing the world popular masses.
As a natural result, the victims of that brutal régime should seek to undermine all its pillars and establish a new regime free of these contradictories. That regime should have a clear ideological vision that contradicts global capitalism. This will pave the way for drafting the alternative project of humanitarian progress, and activate its movement especially in the third world countries. This project will submit globalization requirements to popular needs, as well as, participate in the new political and global regime that is against monopolistic capital. The time has come for regular hard work for establishing a new type of globalization.
Gaza, Palestine.