Mohammed Bouazizi, the young Tunisian graduate, could never have imagined it. By setting himself on fire after the police confiscated the fruit and vegetables he was selling illegally in Sidi Bouzid he sparked off a revolution in the entire Arab world.
The Tunisian upheaval began with anger over rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at corruption. But people were also angry because they had no means of expressing themselves or any ability to bring about change.
They had no democracy.
This is striking considering that the great Arab civilisation right next to us has vast resources and a huge population of some 350 million people. And, no, Islam and democracy are not incompatible.
But everything suddenly changed following Mr Bouazizi’s act of martyrdom. And no one could have predicted it in his wildest dreams.
The Arab world is about to change forever.
It is very difficult to predict how far this revolution will spread. But protests are spreading fast in other countries. As I write, Egyptians are up in arms and it is not clear whether the Egyptian President will still be in power by the time this article goes to print.
There are many dictators and autocratic regimes in the Arab world as in many other countries around the world.
Some are much less benevolent than Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s in Tunisia. So the question is how to expose them to democracy both for the sake of their own people and for the sake of peace and stability in the international community.
There seem to be three options.
The first is through the use of external force to topple dictators. But we all know this route is fraught with danger.
Just look at the Iraq debacle. The US-led invasion was legally questionable. And although it led to the removal and eventual summary execution of Saddam Hussein, it also triggered untold loss of lives (among Iraqis and foreign forces alike) as the country descended into total anarchy.
Short of violence, sanctions can also be applied to dissuade the hardest of regimes, such as Iran and North Korea. But sanctions are known to wreak significant hardship on the people but have negligible impact on the regimes themselves.
The second is the soft-power approach we in Europe have been applying for long. This path is slow and only effective up to a certain extent.
With Arab countries, this approach has sought to establish strong trade links with significant financial support through the framework of the Euro-Med free trade agreements, the Euro-Med Partnership and now the Union for the Mediterranean.
In return, the EU sought to leverage pressure by including “political dialogue” and “human rights” regularly on the agenda.
This approach, which I favour, remains constructive and does not seek to vilify or cut off links with the regimes because this does not necessarily hasten their demise. If anything, it may harden it and increase the people’s hardship rather than decrease it.
So the EU may be criticised for not having done enough to help Tunisians get rid of President Ben Ali sooner. But that charge sounds all too easy now.
That leaves the third option, namely people-power where the people in the Arab world stand up to take leadership of their own destiny.
In Tunisia, the revolution was the result of the people’s yearning for democracy and not the result of any “foreign interference”. Change brought about in this manner might be dramatic and bloody but it may well be the only real option.
The Tunisian uprising has shown that ordinary people – not extremists – are still a power to reckon with and they can bring political change. And it has also shown it can also be contagious, spreading the scent of jasmine in its wake.
Now that it has happened, we cannot stand watching idly by.
The EU must take a leading role in helping Tunisia make a success out of its transition to democracy and become a successful state so that the people can reap the rewards of their efforts.
All the while, the EU must encourage moderate and liberal movements in the Arab world to come to the forefront of politics and deny the political space to extremists, military regimes and new dictators.
We should turn Tunisia into a showcase of what can happen to the rest of the Arab world if they embrace democracy. We should offer Tunisia a real special relationship that will help it embark on the road of meaningful political reform.
• This Saturday, at AŻAD, we are hosting a public discussion on What Is Happening In Tunisia with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg and opposition foreign affairs spokesman George Vella along with Euro-Med experts Ranier Fsadni and Stephen Calleja.
If you would like to join, book your seat by calling AŻAD on 2124 7515 or send an e-mail to info@azad-malta.com.
www.simonbusuttil.eu
Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.