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"A THOUSAND years ago, the great cities of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo took turns to race ahead of the Western world. Islam and innovation were twins. The various Arab caliphates were dynamic superpowers—beacons of learning, tolerance and trade. Yet today the Arabs are in a wretched state. Even as Asia, Latin America and Africa advance, the Middle East is held back by despotism and convulsed by war.
Pluralism, education, open markets: these were once Arab values and they could be so again. Today, as Sunnis and Shias tear out each others’ throats in Iraq and Syria and a former general settles onto his new throne in Egypt, they are tragically distant prospects. But for a people for whom so much has gone so wrong, such values still make up a vision of a better future."
For Arabs to advance, need people to work together. However, unfortunately, there are a lot of different ideals with religions, politics, and different points of views. They need to stop the war, but that is not simple.
The introduction of the article does bring up an interesting historical concept, at one point in time the Arab world absolutely eclipsed the Western World. While the west lingered after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Arab world had universities, great thinkers, was pioneering medicine, and had a tolerant culture. What happened is the Middle East stagnated (in my opinion after the various Crusades the Westerners fought). Today, the Middle East is one of the most dangerous places on the planet to live. One may ask what happened? The answer is plain, various military dictators, as referenced to in the article angered the people who began to hate them. Sadly, many of the dictators were backed by the Western Powers, mainly the United States and its allies. The Middle East will not be fixed over night, and the region may not be able to have democracy like we Americans have. Not every region in the world practices American Federal Democracy, and for good reason, it cannot fit every country's need. Eventually, the Middle East, I am hoping will rebound but hearts and minds need to be won. Perhaps, one day the Middle East will rebound like Vietnam did after decades of war. I am hopeful that one day the Middle East will begin competing with the west and have a system of freedom that works for the area.
This article about the Arabs is very knowledgeable and forthcoming. The author details what was once the greatness of the Arab world, how they have lost their way, and what they can do to get it back. When Arabs ruled the world through trade they were accommodating to all religions and women had freedoms they do not currently enjoy. Now Shia's and Sunni's have a genuine dislike for each other and this sectarian violence shows no signs of abating. Religious freedom is not only a thing of the past, but is usually met by penalties up to and including death if you don't practice the correct form. What company wants to come the region to build their business? A culture that keeps its women in a constant state of repression is indeed troubled.
So much has to happen for the Arabs to be prosperous; how about allowing religious freedom, how about treating women equally? Until these two things happen the Arabs will be forever tagged with the word potential....