The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East Essay

The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East - Essay Example She begins with an analysis of the common explanations but then goes on to highlight the exceptional factors that hinder democracy. She cites examples and elaborates them to support her claims. In addition, she makes comparisons with the situation in other regions to make her claims more valid. She uses the exceptionalism comparative perspective to identify the real causes. Bellin starts with a citation of the Freedom House report on the level of democracy in different regions. While the number of free countries is doubling in other regions, the freedom house report indicated stagnation in the Middle East and North African region. She mentions the statistics as an anecdote to awaken the attention of her readers. Obviously, this report implies that something is definitely wrong in these countries. The author makes a supported claim that most countries in the region have failed to take the challenge of embarking on a journey towards democracy. She then mentions the obvious reasons that may be the cause of the stagnation. According to her, the obvious reasons do not offer valid explanations as to why the region does not make efforts towards democratization. These reasons include the existence of weak civil societies in the region that lack the impetus and capacity to advocate for democracy. In addition, labor unions in the region lack notable activity that can foster democracy. She also highlights the fact that the non-profit organizations in the region lack the appropriate grounding for them to participate in activities that can initiate a democratic transition. In elaboration, she mentions that since association life in the region is weak, the society lacks the capacity to exert pressure on the state to adopt a democratic setting. In addition, the state drives all economic projects of the countries through rental sources of income (Diamond 97-98). The state determines the level of employment as well as the rate of economic growth in the region. The people lack t he autonomy to create new economic ventures for themselves. Therefore, as long as they depend so much on the state, they cannot make demands from it. Increased poverty, illiteracy, and inequality limit the people from demanding democracy. As argued, these factors scare the few elite in society. The masses cannot commit to fighting for democracy as they have other pressing issues on the side. Next, she explains the claim that the Middle East and North Africa lack close proximity to democratic republics. Usually, analysts argue that close proximity to a democratic country offers demonstration effect. Some analysts claim that Islam is incompatible with democracy. Islam is prevalent in the Middle Eastern and North African countries and may be one of the reasons making it difficult for the people to embrace democracy. Bellin argues that the above circumstances are not preserves for the Middle Eastern and North African regions. The same factors exist in other regions that have shown remar kable progress towards democracy. She compares the situation in these regions with the realities in other regions. Her illustration of the progress in the sub-Saharan region despite the weak societies outweighs the claim that presence of a weak civil society hinders the Middle East society and North African countries from advancing towards democracy. On a different point, a high economic command from the state is not a factor that these

Essay about the values of Enlightenment and Romanticism through

About the values of Enlightenment and Romanticism through painting - Essay Example History has shown us that man moves in pendulous ways. From nature to divine, from reason to feelings, from private to public, from objective to subjective. Art is the ideal illustration for these movements, and this essay will discuss the contrasting values manifested in two paintings belonging to the historical movements of the Enlightenment and Romanticism: William Blake's Newton (1795), and Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich. Although Blake is considered usually a romantic precursor in art, in this particular painting, he depicts precisely the most characteristic values of the Enlightenment era. I will also include a typically enlightenment-era painting, Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough (1748-49), in order to directly contrast the different movements.The Enlightenment era, which belonged to the Age of Reason, describes a historical intellectual movement of the 18th century, which advocated rationality as a means to establish an authoritative system o f ethics, aesthetics, and knowledge. "The intellectual leaders of this movement regarded themselves as courageous and elite, and regarded their purpose as leading the world toward progress and out of a long period of doubtful tradition, full of irrationality, superstition, and tyranny now denominated as the Dark Age". (Cassirer, 1992).The Enlightenment believed in a rational, orderly and comprehensible universe. It extolled the ideals of liberty, property and rationality which are still recognizable as the basis for most political philosophies even in the present era. Science came to be the new man's religion, and based on the revolutionary ideas like Newton's, it was thought that all the truths of the world could be known by a systematic way of applying uniform laws. William Blake, an English poet and painter, made a series of pictures of Newton as a divine geometer while living in Lambeth in the late 1790s. Newton is portrayed here as a scientist, but at the same time as a divine figure, a creator. He is deciphering the laws of the world with his compass. The compass symbolizes the creation. We can clearly understand that rationality becomes the highest quality of human beings, and it challenges the existence of a divine being responsible for the creation. The enlightenment was a rebellion to the Middle Ages where faith wasn't to be questioned. Likewise, Romanticism was a rebellion to this age of reason. The Romantics found the Enlightenment worldview excessively dispassionate. With reason being the base for humanity's progress, the emotional side of man was set aside. Romanticism stressed strong emotion-which might include trepidation, awe and horror as aesthetic experiences-"the individual imagination as a critical authority, which permitted freedom within or even from classical notions of form in art, and overturning of previous social conventions, particularly the position of the aristocracy". (Romanticism, article by Wikepedia) Here is a painting of this artistic movement, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich, a 19th century German painter. His paintings portray the untamed power of nature; this is in sharp contrast to Enlightenment-era painters who used nature to bring out qualities in their human subjects. Mr and Mrs Andrews Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog What we can appreciate in the left painting is the power of nature versus the vulnerability of a man, a man who is alone against the world, a wanderer. The romantic worldview is charged with emotions such as fragility, drama, passion, and fate. The character here depicted seems to be at the edge of an abyss. In the second painting, nature is used on the opposite way, to bring out the qualities in the human subjects, the aristocrats. The colors of Friedrich's painting express the feelings of uncertainty, loneliness and vulnerability. While in, Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrew, there is more a sense of confidence and stability. Nature is definitely more