{"id":11112,"date":"2023-01-27T22:10:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T20:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/?p=9470"},"modified":"2024-08-22T18:37:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T16:37:10","slug":"the-arab-spring-between-fact-and-fiction-by-hossam-badrawi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/the-arab-spring-between-fact-and-fiction-by-hossam-badrawi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arab Spring between fact and fiction – by Hossam Badrawi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Most people assume that if you can touch an object, taste it, smell it, or hit something\u00a0 with it, it must be real, and their knowledge of its reality is based on the direct\u00a0 apprehension of the facts at hand. Fiction, on the other hand, because it is made up by\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

our minds, is not a fact we can apprehend directly, and is thus either\u00a0 considered false or unreal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The argument here is that the reverse can also be true. By that I mean that\u00a0 fiction is inherently more ‘true’ than fact, or at least equally true. And that what\u00a0 we call facts are actually nothing more than good fictions- ones which we deem\u00a0 most reasonable to accept or made by someone so reasonable to be accepted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if there is no direct apprehension and all facts are coming to us via media,\u00a0 the way it is presented, the way it is projected and the way it is analyzed. <\/span>Don’t you think that merger between fiction and reality can easily happen to\u00a0 the receiver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was taught as a politician that perception is reality in the public eyes even\u00a0 without evidences. Evidences, whether true or fiction, could be created, made\u00a0 to be discovered, published and insinuated in the minds of people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All science fiction movies or dreams or even those who used science to come\u00a0 up with theories then try to prove it ,were dreamers and fictionists in a way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May be there is no reality without a preceded fiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

1949, Abbass Al Akad, a famous Egyptian writer ,before the internet, or\u00a0 discoveries of the genome, how much we use of our brain capacity, wrote\u00a0 and I quote “nothing would cross a human mind that will not be a reality one\u00a0 day. As long as it crossed the mind it means the possibility of realization”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a scientist, who started his research in scanning electron microscopy in the\u00a0 late seventies in Wayne state university in Michigan. At that time seeing 3D animal\u00a0 and human cell magnified thousands of time was magic. Since then my interest in\u00a0 bringing babies to life as an obstetrician and gynecologist was fired by studying\u00a0 biology and later on some biophysics. Presenting pictures of ciliated cells over\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

magnified thousands of times in 3D did look like plants under the sea or in the\u00a0 space. The reality discovered was a fiction of what is inside the human body.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There has been numerous attempts to predict the future, many useful and\u00a0 insightful. However, they were mainly written by historians, sociologists,\u00a0 science fiction writers, who were predicting the world but not making it\u00a0 themselves. They see the present, analyze the past and value the scientific\u00a0 discoveries and predict the future as if the future is self made.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Politicians are now more involved, knowing and using sociology, mastering\u00a0 movement of the masses, the butterfly effect theory, the domino consequences.\u00a0 Those politicians interfering to create their own fictions and our own future realities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me take you with me to fiction \/ reality of our earth and the whole <\/b>\u00a0<\/b>universe before I go back to the so called Arab Spring.<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

There are 2 fundamental pillars upon which modern physics rests. One is <\/span>Albert Einstein general relativity theory <\/b>which provides a theoretical framework for understanding the Universe on the largest scales: stars, galaxies, clusters of\u00a0 galaxies-and beyond to the immense expanse of the Universe itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second pillar is the <\/span>quantum mechanics <\/b>theory, which provides theoretical\u00a0 framework for understanding the Universe on the smallest scales: molecules,\u00a0 atoms, all the way down to the subatomic particles like electrons and quarks\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All over a century of research, it was thought that general relativity and quantum\u00a0 mechanics cannot both be right. The two theories underlying the tremendous progress\u00a0 of physics during the last hundred years — progress that has explained the laws of the\u00a0 heavens and the fundamental structure of the matter seemed incompatible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Superstring theory<\/b>, later in the 20<\/span>th <\/span>century, answered a lot of questions.\u00a0 Intense research over the past decade and mathematicians around the world\u00a0 has revealed that this new approach to describing matter at its most fundamental level resolves the tension between the 2 theories. According to the superstring theory, the marriage of the laws of the large and small is not\u00a0 only happy but inevitable as Brian Green, famous physicist, said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, stay with me; let us get to the basic idea:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The string theory proclaims that the smallest particles constituting the\u00a0 physical basis of the matter whatever it is, where ever it is, consist of a tiny\u00a0 (beyond our capacity to recognize) one dimension loop. Each particle\u00a0 contains a vibrating, oscillating, dancing filament that has been named string.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything in the Universe is not really a matter but vibrating filaments, and\u00a0 according to the vibration the matter as we perceive it, it becomes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Einstein was simply ahead of his time. More than half a century later, his\u00a0 fiction and dream of a unified theory has become a reality. A sizable part of\u00a0 the physics and mathematics community is becoming increasingly convinced\u00a0 that string theory may provide the answer for everything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From one principle that everything at its most micro-microscopic level consists of\u00a0 combinations of vibrating strands, just like the strings on a violin or a piano, creating\u00a0 the musical notes in their higher harmonies. Or like the letters in a language, as few as\u00a0 they are, making our great history of literature and conversation between us. For this\u00a0 reason the string theory is referred to as possibly the <\/span>theory of everything.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

What does this have to do with my presentation<\/b>?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever we see, ladies and gentlemen depends upon the perception of our\u00a0 senses. All matter is oscillating strings, energy, and if we do not exist, it does\u00a0 not exist. Whether in science or on social aspects, it is finally only a reality\u00a0 depending upon the perceiving mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a matter of fact everything is related. All fictions were translated into reality\u00a0 in science. The political science and sociology is not different..\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gustave Le Bon a French social psychologist, sociologist, anthropologist,\u00a0 inventor, and amateur physicist, best known for his 1895 work The Crowd: A\u00a0 Study of the Popular Mind explained that this new entity that emerges from\u00a0 incorporating the assembled population not only forms a new body but also\u00a0 forms a collective \u201cunconsciousness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a crowd gathers together and coalesces there is a “magnetic influence given out\u00a0 by the crowd or from some other cause of which we are ignorant\u201d that transmutes\u00a0 every individual\u201fs behavior until it becomes governed by the \u201fgroup mind’.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This model treats ‘The Crowd’ as a unit in its composition and robs every\u00a0 individual member of their opinions, values and beliefs. As he says in one of\u00a0 his famous statements, \u201cAn individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other\u00a0 grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Le Bon detailed three key processes that create \u201eThe Crowd\u201f behavior,\u00a0 Anonymity, Contagion and Suggestibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anonymity provides to rational individuals a feeling of invincibility and the loss\u00a0 of personal responsibility. An individual becomes primitive, unreasoning, and\u00a0 emotional.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contagion refers to the spread in the crowd of particular behaviors (e.g.\u00a0 rioter’s smashing windows) where individuals sacrifice their personal interest\u00a0 for the collective interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Suggestibility is the mechanism through which the contagion is achieved. As\u00a0 the crowd coalesces into a singular mind ,suggestions made by strong voices\u00a0 in the crowd create a space for the \u201eracial unconscious\u201f to come to the\u00a0 forefront and guide its behavior. At this stage \u201eThe Crowd\u201f becomes\u00a0 homogeneous and malleable to suggestions from its strongest members.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who lead the crowd are-strong voices who can direct and drive the\u00a0 group. Those are trainable individuals nowadays and the path of any large\u00a0 demonstrations could be determined to a large extent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using the technology of today, gathering people and working upon their psyche,\u00a0 is an art that non bordered communications made possible and achievable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The positive collective mind of a crowd in a football game can make the\u00a0 stadium play with a team and against the other. As we now understand,\u00a0 energy that motivates people could be created. The collective consciousness\u00a0 of a crowd can create matter. Historical leaders, used to do that in their\u00a0 crowds, creating positive energy through their messages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My long introduction meant to give scientific background for you to cope with\u00a0 what happened where I live in the last 4 years and my story tells.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Arab Spring<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Arab Spring refers to a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and\u00a0 protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world\u00a0 on 18th od December 2010, and spread throughout the Arab Countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The term has a reference historically to the turmoil in Eastern Europe in 1989,\u00a0 when seemingly powerful Communist regimes began falling down under pressure\u00a0 from mass popular protests in a domino effect. In a short period of time, most\u00a0 countries in the former Communist bloc adopted democratic political systems with a\u00a0 market economy in contrast to the events in the Middle East which went in a\u00a0 different direction. Egypt, and Tunisia entered an uncertain transition period; Syria,\u00a0 Libya and Yemen were drawn into a civil conflict, while the wealthy monarchies in\u00a0 the Gulf remained seemingly unshaken by the events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the aftermath of the Iraq War the term was used by various commentators\u00a0 and bloggers who anticipated a major Arab movement towards\u00a0 democratization. (The fiction)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>first specific use of the term Arab Spring<\/span> as used to denote these events\u00a0 actually started with the American political journal Foreign Policy. Marc\u00a0 Lynch, used it in his article as part of a US strategy of controlling [the\u00a0 movement’s] aims and goals” and directing it towards American-style liberal\u00a0 democracy (fiction) or controlled chaos (the reality)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditionally, the father of the newly born gets to name his baby, hence the origin of\u00a0 the name coming from the US. Some refers to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in the\u00a0 Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to\u00a0 the aftermath of revolutions and civil wars post mid-2012 as the Arab Winter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, the relative success and outcome of all uprisings and revolutions remain\u00a0 largely disputed within Arab people, among foreign observers, and between world\u00a0 powers looking to cash in on the changing map of the Middle East.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it is noticeable that the protests had shared techniques of civil\u00a0 resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations,\u00a0 marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media to organize,\u00a0 communicate, and raise awareness in the face of states attempts to repress\u00a0 crowd movement or block their communication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Later on, it was revealed that many leaders of young protesters were actually\u00a0 trained and financed in Eastern Europe by intelligence institutions of major\u00a0 influential countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was even not denied by them when revolutions succeeded in collapsing\u00a0 governments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Political protesters in monarchies like Jordan and Morocco wanted to reform\u00a0 the system under the current rulers, some calling for an immediate transition\u00a0 to constitutional monarchy, others content with gradual reform. People in\u00a0 republican regimes like Egypt and Tunisia wanted to overthrow the president,\u00a0 but other than free elections they had little idea on what to do next. Beyond\u00a0 calls for greater social justice there was no magic wand for the economy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leftist groups and unions wanted higher wages and a reversal of privatization deals,\u00a0 Hard-line Islamists were more concerned with enforcing strict religious norms seeking\u00a0 the opportunity of political vacuum created after those revolutions, whether intended,\u00a0 planned for or not to get to the power either relatively or absolutely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I cannot ignore the pilot project of the US: the Iraq nivation , after building a\u00a0 world belief (fictions vs. reality) that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction\u00a0 (proved to be false) and decided to send a whole army home (was considered\u00a0 one of the strongest 15 armies in the world), demolish all institutions, and create\u00a0 the social and political vacuum that was followed by chaos, civil war, loss of oil\u00a0 wealth and later the appearance of the fanatic so called Islamic State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All political parties in counties of revolutions promised more jobs, democracy\u00a0 and respect of human rights but none came close to developing a program\u00a0 with concrete economic policies. Democracy was only seen in voting ballots\u00a0 ,but all what preceded voting or followed the elections were full of fraud that\u00a0 evacuated democracy from its core.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now,Was Arab Spring a Success or a Failure? Was it a reality or a fiction?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It has been disappointing to those hoping that the removal of perceived\u00a0 corrupt rulers would translate into an instant improvement in living standards.\u00a0 Chronic instability in countries undergoing political transitions have put\u00a0 additional strain on struggling local economies, and deep divisions have\u00a0 emerged between the Islamists and secular citizens who had the dream of\u00a0 freedom and separation of the church\/ mosque from the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conspiracy thriller (or paranoid thriller) is a subdivision of thriller fiction. The\u00a0 protagonists of conspiracy thrillers were historically journalists or amateur\u00a0 investigators who find themselves (often inadvertently) pulling on a small thread\u00a0 which unravels a vast conspiracy that ultimately goes “all the way to the top.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The complexities of historical facts nowadays, with the flow of informations over the\u00a0 internet and YouTube has revealed huge numbers of assumed facts and realities,\u00a0 everyone is a hero and every one is a devil. The confusion between fiction and\u00a0 reality is as deep as it was never before. It is an unbelievable situation with all the\u00a0 leaks of information that made people adjusted to see, listen and read conflicting\u00a0 news and probably lose trust in everything said to them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The difficulty in asserting the truth amid the deceptions ,rumors, lies,\u00a0 propaganda, and counter-propaganda build upon one another is being so\u00a0 difficult, as what is conspiracy and what is coincidence became entangled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Islamic State\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The enormously complicated situation in the Middle East has been magically\u00a0 transformed, and simplified, with the emergence of the IS. Everyone has quickly\u00a0 forgotten that Washington\u201fs \u201eArab Spring\u201f project which failed spectacularly, and\u00a0 are now looking together for protection against the \u201eJihadist threat\u201f from those\u00a0 who created this threat. The most telling example is the drop in oil prices\u00a0 detrimental to Producing arab countries. Surprisingly, the falling curve of oil\u00a0 quotations came after reports of the Islamic State\u201fs military successes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conventional analysis on the rise of IS no longer suffices. Tracing the movement\u00a0 to Oct 2006 when the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), uniting various groups including Al Qaeda was established, simply suggests a starting point to the discussion, whose\u00a0 roots go back to the dismantling of the Iraqi state and army by the US military\u00a0 occupation authority. Just the idea that the Arab republic of Iraq was lead from 11 May,\u00a0 2003 until 28 June, 2004 by a Lewis Paul Bremer III, is enough to delineate the\u00a0 unredeemable rupture in the country\u201fs identity. Bremer and US military chiefs\u201f\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Manipulation of Iraq\u201fs sectarian vulnerabilities, in addition to the massive\u00a0 security vacuum created by sending an entire army home, ushered in the rise\u00a0 of numerous groups, some homegrown resistance movements, and other\u00a0 alien bodies who sought refuge in Iraq .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also conveniently missing in the rise of \u201cJihadism\u201d context is the staggering\u00a0 brutality that dominated governments in Baghdad and militias throughout Iraq,\u00a0 with full backing by the US and Iran. If the US war (1990-1), blockade (1991- 2003), invasion (2003) and subsequent occupation of Iraq were not enough to\u00a0 radicalize a whole generation, then brutality, marginalization and constant\u00a0 targeting of Iraqi citizens in post-invasion Iraq have certainly done the job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Serious experts are now in little doubt that the US administration was the\u00a0 \u201emidwife\u201f of the Islamic State (IS).<\/span><\/p>\n

Renowned Israeli analyst and former head of its ultra-secretive intelligence\u00a0 agency Jacob Kedmi, says that the US is now trying to use the tactic of setting\u00a0 moderate Islam against radical Islam, which was \u00absuccessfully employed in\u00a0 Russia\u00bb. It is not turning out well for the US, however, considering that for the\u00a0 last three years the Americans have acted as allies of the IS in Syria, and before\u00a0 that , they were allies of al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, nothing is being done to curb the illegal shipments of oil\u00a0 from territories seized by IS militants; the cost of these shipments has\u00a0 already reached almost a billion $, allowing the game of lowering prices to be\u00a0 played. And flow of weapons to continue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One important outcome from lowering oil prices is to hinder investment in\u00a0 renewable energies as it comes again to be much more expensive. Countries\u00a0 like Egypt can change its fate and create a different economic future from\u00a0 energy from the sun and winds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Barack Obama announced that the strengthening of the Islamic State\u00a0 caught the US intelligence community by surprise, one high-ranking\u00a0 Pentagon official exclaimed in surprise: \u00abEither the president doesn\u201ft read\u00a0 the intelligence he\u201fs getting or he\u201fs bullshitting\u00bb.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We should not forget the old British tactic of using \u201ejihadists\u201f to serve the\u00a0 interests of its policy dates back to the time of Laurence of Arabia and to the\u00a0 even earlier period of the Caucasian wars of the 19<\/span>th <\/span>century, when the British, having started the \u201eGreat Game\u201f with the Russian Empire,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the Second World War, London took great pains to create the Muslim\u00a0 Brotherhood Movement in Egypt and to help spreading them in whole the\u00a0 Middle\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

East to counterbalance the Arab socialism that was gaining momentum\u00a0 there. It is also known that this experience was used by Israel, which, as\u00a0 Jacob Kedmi acknowledges, helped or \u00abdid not prevent\u00bb the creation of\u00a0 Hamas as a rival to Fatah, which was more influential at that time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, however, the Islamic State is becoming an increasingly\u00a0 dangerous weapon that could seriously wound its creator. Following reports\u00a0 that the US Air Force had allegedly killed \u201ecaliph\u201f Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, an\u00a0 audio recording emerged in which he denied the premature rumors of his\u00a0 death and announced the expansion of the self-proclaimed caliphate.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to al-Baghdadi, in addition of one third of Iraq and Syria, the\u00a0 Islamic State also controls parts of Yemen, and parts of other Arab countries.\u00a0 Al-Baghdadi called for soldiers of the caliphate to join allied groups in order to\u00a0 \u00aberupt volcanoes of jihad everywhere\u00bb, especially in Saudi Arabia. Kurdish\u00a0 sources believe that as many as 200,000, has joined the IS militias ,with a\u00a0 population of nearly 12 million people under their control.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A recently released video shows a map of the Islamic State with \u201econquered\u201f\u00a0 territories and groups from Yemen, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria swearing oaths\u00a0 of allegiance to Al-Baghdadi. The Islamic State is declared the successor to\u00a0 Osama bin Laden\u201fs Al-Qaeda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Its goals are stated as being the conquest of the whole of the Middle East,\u00a0 followed by Rome and then Al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula). After\u00a0 restoring the borders of the historic caliphate, the Islamic State will turn to the\u00a0 East to conquer China and Japan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The final phase will be the conquest of America. The video also contains images\u00a0 of the beheading of Syrian prisoners in which representatives of various\u00a0 nationalities perform the role of executioner (citizens of Belgium, France, Britain\u00a0 and Australia have been identified, as well as an Uzbek and a Malaysian).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From a military point of view, of course, plans for the worldwide expansion of the\u00a0 \u201eISIS\u201f seem like the fruit of an exalted imagination. However, it is impossible to\u00a0 underestimate the fanaticism of ideas and the overall scale of the threat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Young Muslims, stirred up by the Washington-inspired \u201eArab Spring\u201f and then\u00a0 disillusioned with it, are looking for new ideological orientations. This danger\u00a0 has already moved beyond, or is just about to move beyond, the Middle East.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Humanity has never been faced with such acts of terrorism and expected\u00a0 \u201ebioterrorism\u201f, and the consequences are impossible to imagine. IS terrorist\u00a0 groups did not come from nowhere, but are \u00abthe fruit of the mistaken and\u00a0 aggressive policies of those who have waged wars in the Middle East\u00bb.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Balance of power in the Middle East:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Apparently, the emerging configuration of regional and inter-regional alliances\u00a0 will be qualitatively different from anything we\u201fve seen over the past 100\u00a0 years, beginning with the Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916 and the Treaty of\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Versailles in 1919. This means, if not the actual demolition, the profound\u00a0 erosion of hitherto existing borders between the countries of the region drawn\u00a0 by Britain and France. It is already clear that a number of countries have few\u00a0 prospects to remain in their current form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The future of Egypt , the largest country in the Middle East<\/b>, one third of\u00a0 Arab population, also looks a little foggy. Destabilized by MB from inside which\u00a0 we know they are the origin of the whole philosophy of the Islamic State, and of\u00a0 external forces particularly the US, turkey tactics and Qatari fund .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can Egypt withstand the pressure created by proliferating internal and external\u00a0 problems? Mind you that Egypt is one of the oldest countries in the history of\u00a0 mankind and it’s collapse or further weakening will make the waiting list of other\u00a0 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, only a consequence of the\u00a0 processes occurring in the region to implode the world order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is obvious that any new dividing lines, the duration of which will be determined by\u00a0 the balance of forces of the newly formed alliances between the old and the new\u00a0 players in the regional field will be changing the future of the rest of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the balancing forces being formed?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The nearing deadline to conclude negotiations between Iran and the US on\u00a0 Iran\u201fs nuclear project these days, this year ,has exposed the fact that the\u00a0 Middle East has come to a point of creating a new power entity in the area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To the majority of Arab states it is clear that the conclusion of the US-Iranian\u00a0 deal on the Iranian nuclear program and other issues of regional importance\u00a0 (as it has become clear that Washington and Tehran actively agree on the\u00a0 division of spheres of influence) will turn Iran into the new regional leader.\u00a0 This is despite the arguments against it put forth by US Secretary of State\u00a0 John Kerry, who tried during his visit to Riyadh on March 5 to reassure the\u00a0 Arabian monarchy that allegedly the agreement on future limitations on Iran\u201fs\u00a0 nuclear policy will not affect other aspects of Iranian foreign policy, and that\u00a0 Washington, as before, will actively resist Iranian expansionism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We should not be fooled; the battle between the lately empowered Iran by the\u00a0 US and the created ISIS by the US will turn neither Iran nor ISIS into a friend\u00a0 to America. Iran and ISIS will compete for the crown of militant Islam.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Naturally, in the White House no one thinks that Iran in its present form has\u00a0 become a friend of the United States. The discussion centers on a more\u00a0 remote calculation \u2013(in the fiction stage) removing sanctions would\u00a0 significantly strengthen the position of the pro-American liberals in Iran\u00a0 among the major bourgeoisie interested in regime change and prevent\u00a0 Tehran from using Islam as a foreign policy tool for expansion. ( fiction)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Egypt <\/b>and in other countries, attempts through revolution to bring \u201cthe Muslim Brotherhood\u201d,(the extremely non democratic) which is still very friendly to\u00a0 Washington, to power not only caused resistance and fear in the Gulf states, but\u00a0 also provoked the most intense conflicts, primarily in Syria and Libya and\u00a0 definitely created very negative atmosphere between Egypt and the US .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I will go back to the Muslim Brothers, in Egypt for clarification later on as I said they\u00a0 are the brains behind the violence and the philosophers of the Islamic State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In view of these processes a new paradigm materialized in the region cast in the form\u00a0 of Sunni and Shiite opposition, and in essence\u2013 the confrontation of Iran and Saudi\u00a0 Arabia, Small rich Gulf countries and possibly Egypt having the strongest army.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This Arab Sunni alliance, for its own survival, will be forced to a greater or\u00a0 lesser rapprochement with Israel, ( another fiction) which is concerned not so\u00a0 much with Iranian nuclear weapons as with the expansion of Tehran\u201fs\u00a0 influence, regardless of whether it possesses nuclear weapons or not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence the widespread rumors of the impending deal between Saudi Arabia and\u00a0 Israel on the Palestinian issue, (which will open the way to a direct alliance of\u00a0 Zionists and Wahhabists.) (Fiction in the largest scale coming close to reality)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The strengthening of Tehran\u201fs regional position and the formation of an\u00a0 independent Kurdistan, or one in confederal relations with Baghdad, is\u00a0 obviously a blow to Turkey’s position, as well as its claims to regional\u00a0 leadership under the guidance of Erdogan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey is attempting to resist these processes through the tactic connivance\u00a0 with Daesh actions, as well as attempts, if not to overthrow the pro-Iranian\u00a0 Assad regime, then to gain direct or indirect control of the north of the\u00a0 country, providing support for the so-called \u201cmoderate\u201d Syrian opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey is playing a major role in supporting Muslim Brothers, and providing\u00a0 shelter for them after 30<\/span>th <\/span>of June up rise against them in Egypt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it is clear that Washington\u201es flirtation with Tehran, including its\u00a0 interactions with the Shiite militia fighting Daesh, greatly reduces the chances\u00a0 of Ankara preserving its Middle Eastern gains. The Turkish response to the\u00a0 rapprochement between Washington and Tehran has manifested as an\u00a0 independent Turkish policy in relations with Russia, strengthening their\u00a0 energy alliance. However, we cannot exclude that Ankara, counteracting the\u00a0 rise of Iran, will begin to strengthen its position on the energy front by creating\u00a0 new energy transportation systems with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The big question is whether Washington will be able to get Turkey and Iran, in the\u00a0 context of growing rivalry between them, to agree on the formation of a gas\u00a0 transportation corridor from Iran to Europe in order to reduce the energy dependence\u00a0 of the EU on Russian gas. So far, while the current regime remains in Tehran,\u00a0 prospects are poor. The priorities of all the key players do not coincide. Mind you all , a\u00a0 great part of what happened in Syria was about transportation of Gas and energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For completeness, we should direct our attention to the success of Saudi\u00a0 Arabia, under the new King Salman, to form an alliance with Egypt\u201fs armed\u00a0 forces. Riyadh won an approval at the summit of the Arab League on March\u00a0 28-29 for the idea of creating unified armed forces of the Arab League with\u00a0 the participation of Egypt, KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not accidental that during the Egyptian Economic conference in Sharm el Sheikh on March 12-13 the Gulf monarchies announced an investment package to\u00a0 Cairo amounting to 12 billion dollars. It is clear that one good turn deserves\u00a0 another. According to the plan of Riyadh, no matter how illusory this alliance may\u00a0 look, it can materialize even more if Turkey\u201fs support is obtained for joint opposition\u00a0 to the hegemonic aspirations of Tehran. Today Turkey as a main Shelter to MBs\u00a0 and Egypt are in a very big conflict and this question was the main issue of the\u00a0 recent (February 28 \u2013 March 2) negotiation by Erdogan in Riyadh. The Gulf cannot\u00a0 stand against Iran without Egypt and they want the Turkish support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia and china\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

At the same time, all major regional players, Egypt, Saudi, Turkey and Israel\u00a0 are analyzing the actions of the US to lift the sanctions against Iran, the\u00a0 development of ISIS, the division and war in Yemen ,possible control of world\u00a0 trade at the entrance of the red sea, and the reaction of Russia and China.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems logical After all, the United States, based on its own strategies to preserve\u00a0 global domination, now must regroup its forces to increase pressure on China and\u00a0 Russia, which are challenging US hegemony and actively working to create a multi\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

polar system of international <\/span>relations instead of the failed formula of a unipolar world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, the leading states in the Middle East are preparing for the period\u00a0 when they do not have to rely on Washington, first, because of its unwillingness\u00a0 to take up the task of maintaining regional stability, and second, because of its\u00a0 unreliability as a partner of the so-called Arab revolutions showed to everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me remind you that The core of the Palestinian issue and the historical fight\u00a0 between Arabs and Israel, for over 65 years ,was the 6 million Palestinian\u00a0 refugees all over the world, In the last few years, this region has accumulated, 5\u00a0 million Iraqi, 4 million Syrian, 300K Yemeni, and 400k Libyan refugees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Think of the consequences in the future of those refugees whom most were\u00a0 living a stable life only few years ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, if Einstein has proven that the universe is that huge but\u00a0 connected and related, and if the string theory has confirmed that all matter are\u00a0 made of energy and there is unification of the building blocks of everything, if\u00a0 science is accumulating innovation and inventions in a few years to bring solutions\u00a0 to humanity’s challenges, more than what has happened in the whole history of\u00a0 mankind and if we have a little wisdom to see the future, we must conclude that we,\u00a0 in the south of Mediterranean are so close to Europe north of this lake, and that we\u00a0 are connected and our future cannot be separated from each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Human race has all the chances to create new energy, food, and overcome\u00a0 poverty and ignorance, but we are left to closed minded ,short sighted\u00a0 politicians who thrive on war and conflicts, creating black fiction and\u00a0 transforming the world into a large battlefield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My message is that we should work together, create positive energy and lead\u00a0 our people to a better life, and we can do it. We should not just wait and see\u00a0 the future of mankind being written by the few.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Story of Egypt<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The 2011 uprising left the security apparatus in Egypt only partially intact, and the\u00a0 military regained their autonomy but the question of who would hold political office\u00a0 was open to negotiation. It seems to me that the generals didn\u201ft mind trying out the\u00a0 power-hungry Ikhwan. They were more organized than the activists who sparked\u00a0 the revolt, and the only alternative to the potentially organized remnants of the NDP\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which was the objective of organized political attacks and character\u00a0 assassination by the revolutionists, Al Ekwan (MBs) and actually clearly not\u00a0 welcomed by the generals SCAF.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Creating a political vacuum was the trap Egypt went through blinded by the\u00a0 massive propaganda created to exclude organized political powers but the MBs\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

MBs didn\u201ft pose, at the time, any threat to military privileges. Actually I\u00a0 believe they had no intention of dismantling the infrastructure of dictatorship\u00a0 and submitting themselves to the volatile moods of a democratic process;\u00a0 they just wanted to take Mubarak\u201fs place at the top. Their first enemy was\u00a0 Egypt’s intelligence apparatus which know everything about them , sources of\u00a0 wealth and connection to international intelligences in the world, and the NDP\u00a0 which posed a still , an organized political opponent and they succeeded to\u00a0 get rid of both using all kinds of attacks .\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 2011, while the protesters were still entrenched in Tahrir Square,\u00a0 Morsi and the future head of the Brothers\u201f Freedom and Justice Party, Saad al Katatni, entered into secret negotiations with the intelligence chief, Omar Soliman\u00a0 for a larger share of power in return for stopping the revolt. I personally attended\u00a0 one of those meetings on February 5<\/span>th<\/span>, in which Morsi represented MBs, few days\u00a0 after escaping from his prison with the help of militant attacks, suspected at the\u00a0 time, to be assisted by Hamas. I personally put the inquiry to VP Soliman, and he\u00a0 asked me to trust him and to not create more turbulence in negotiations as so much\u00a0 is going on beyond what appears on the surface. I was excluded from any future\u00a0 negotiation and totally put in the dark for fear of not being a team player, as posed\u00a0 by some of the president aids who considered my presence as a threat to the\u00a0 regime and did not approve my appointment to lead the ruling party to start with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once Mubarak was ousted, the MBs pushed for ,and adopted the military-security\u00a0 program: elections first, constitution and reform later. Those few who argued,\u00a0 including myself, that new democracies need to establish some basic guidelines\u00a0 before rushing to the ballot box were dismissed , attacked, and marginalized.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the transitional period, after wining a little above 40% of parliament\u00a0 seats, against non organized politically divided block, the Brothers flipped the coin\u00a0 and blamed the protesters for the violence directed at them by the state\u2013they were\u00a0 staging illegal protests, after all \u2013 and repeatedly alleged that the activists were\u00a0 pawns of foreign intelligence services. In parliament, they took every opportunity to\u00a0 praise Egypt\u201fs law enforcers and blocked every attempt to hold them accountable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as Morsi was sworn in, he congratulated the police for reforming themselves,\u00a0 audaciously referring to them as esteemed partners in the 2011 uprising. Needless to\u00a0 say, security abuses surged during Morsi\u201fs short tenure, and official\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coercion was reinforced by the Brothers\u201f own militias. They aimed to tune all\u00a0 forces to the benefit of maintaining their grasp on power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Brothers believed that sacrificing revolutionaries was morally and practically\u00a0 justified. They felt entitled to exclusive rule after decades of toil. They had spent their\u00a0 best years behind bars: why should they now share power with a bunch of political adolescents? And how could the guardians of Islam ally themselves with irreverent\u00a0 secularists? As for the security apparatus, even if it could be dismantled, why would\u00a0 they want that when it was such an asset to them being in control. It isn\u201ft hard to\u00a0 understand the cynicism that greeted the Brothers last June when they accused the\u00a0 protesters of selling out the revolution and allowing the police state to \u201ereturn\u201f.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The “democratically elected” MBs president Morsi and his regime broke all the\u00a0 rules and covenants of legitimacy. In November 2012, the Supreme Court was\u00a0 besieged by the president’s followers for more than 30 days to obstruct justice\u00a0 and delay the sentencing in two crucial cases related to the constitutionality of\u00a0 both the Constituent Assembly and the Upper House (the Shoura Council).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During these days the president bestowed on himself the right to legislate\u00a0 and immunized all his decrees from legal pursuit. He removed the Prosecutor\u00a0 General, breaking his constitutional oath and appointed the man of his\u00a0 choice, breaking yet again his constitutional limits. He thus became the\u00a0 Superman ruler of Egypt: the CEO, the legislator and the magistrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The MBs, with their president, who only spoke to them, has created institutional\u00a0 enemies everywhere all the time. Media, Judges, intellectuals, tourism sector,\u00a0 police officers, professionals, academia and workers has all been alienated one\u00a0 way or another either by violent actions, or by appointment of incompetent MBs\u00a0 in leading positions, or proposed laws of exclusion together with threats to all\u00a0 privet TV stations, reporters and private sector big companies.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Morsi government has succeeded to generate this ill-advised militancy single\u00a0 handed in only few months. He broke promises to seek consensus with secular and\u00a0 opposition forces. After forcing through the constitution which divided the country,\u00a0 He tried nonstop to impose his control over the judiciary, media and civil society\u00a0 groups. MBs also have devised laws that would tilt future elections in its favor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps more significantly, MBs government has infuriated average\u00a0 Egyptians with its poor management. Cities were plagued with power outages\u00a0 and fuel shortages, inflation and unemployment were growing and investment\u00a0 was dormant. It was the Brothers\u201f complacency, that alienated their\u00a0 revolutionary allies and, more important, the majority of Egyptian people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think Egyptian military had hoped to relieve itself of the burden of everyday\u00a0 governance in order to focus on more pressing concerns: rebuilding its capacity as\u00a0 a combat force; diversifying its sources of hardware beyond the US; demilitarizing\u00a0 Sinai; and finding ways to project its power in the region. They expected the MBs to\u00a0 pacify the street. But the Brothers proved to be the worst sort of negotiator:\u00a0 unprincipled and incompetent. None of the three contenders in Egypt\u201fs post-revolt\u00a0 political sphere was strong enough to rule alone: the old regime was resented; the\u00a0 Islamists were inexperienced; and the activists were clueless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alliances were needed to break the deadlock. Because the Brothers controlled\u00a0 the executive and the legislature, the ball was in their court. For months, people\u00a0 put their lives on hold, wondering when and how the stalemate would come to\u00a0 an end. But the Brothers were unwilling to compromise. Their plan was to win\u00a0 over the agents of coercion, but they failed to see that their intransigence would\u00a0 drive their political opponents into a tactical alliance against them, and that such\u00a0 an alliance would force the military to revise its stance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

General Commander Sisi offered to broker an agreement, but the Brothers flexed their\u00a0 muscles, deploying armed supporters to clear the anti-Islamist sit-in around the\u00a0 presidential palace in December 2012, killing and torturing dozens in the process (of all\u00a0 the court cases faced by Morsi and his aides, this is the one I believe that poses the\u00a0 biggest danger to them). As tensions in the country grew, a body of Rebellions\u00a0 (tamarod) called on the people to take to the streets on 30 <\/span>th<\/span>, June 2013 to force early\u00a0 elections or referendum about MBs president to complete his presidency or not. The\u00a0 campaign won the support of all non-MBs powers, and revolutionary alike. There was\u00a0 an attempt to exclude groups previously considered part of the old regime from the\u00a0 movement, but the revolutionaries couldn\u201ft build a solid enough front on their own, and\u00a0 finally decided that their best option was to throw in their lot with their past tormentors.\u00a0 Trading their revolutionary aspirations for a modest reform agenda seemed better than\u00a0 allowing an Islamist regime to remain in charge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the Brothers\u201f adversaries would not have been able to field enough foot soldiers to\u00a0 ensure the army\u201fs co-operation had the masses abstained. 2013 summer\u201fs popular\u00a0 outburst was historically unprecedented. Millions took to the streets, not once, but\u00a0 three times in the space of a month: to rebel against MBs on 30 June, to celebrate his\u00a0 overthrow on 3 July, and to express their defiance of MBs violence on 26 July. Even if\u00a0 anyone agree with the MBs allegations that some of the protesters were paid by the\u00a0 old regime, and that others were persuaded to get involved by the anti-Islamist media\u00a0 yet they cannot deny that six decades of political bribes and state propaganda never\u00a0 brought out a fraction of that number: Mubarak couldn\u201ft get more than a hundred\u00a0 thousand supporters onto the streets either at the height of his power or in the moment\u00a0 of his final desperation; and demonstrations on behalf of the old regime\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

during the 18 months between Mubarak\u201fs downfall and Morsi\u201fs election barely\u00a0 mustered a few thousand. The reality is that the Islamists alone provoked this\u00a0 unsurpassed popular eruption: the Brothers\u201f dismal performance in government\u00a0 is what ultimately convinced even the most passive of citizens \u2013 the so-called\u00a0 \u201esofa party\u201f \u2013 to leave the comfort of their homes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the Brothers underestimated the electorate. People would still vote for us,\u00a0 they boasted, even if we nominated a dead dog. It wasn\u201ft exactly flattering.\u00a0 Stubborn and scornful of the people as Mubarak was, he was wise enough to grasp\u00a0 that he had to make concessions to gain popular support. In each of the three\u00a0 speeches he delivered during the revolt of 2011, he gave significant ground. First\u00a0 he dismissed the cabinet, then the leadership of the ruling party, he brought an\u00a0 acceptable face to opposition to replace his old guards to lead NDP, he dissolved\u00a0 the infamous Policy Committee and formed a committee to purge the constitution of\u00a0 unpopular clauses; and then he pledged that neither he nor his son would run in the\u00a0 presidential elections, which were only nine months away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Morsi, in contrast, wouldn\u201ft even reshuffle his cabinet or reinforce his legitimacy with a\u00a0 popular referendum. Warned of looming rebellion, he described his opponents as a\u00a0 handful of old regime scoundrels, and delivered an incredible two and a half hour\u00a0 speech ridiculing his enemies by name and laughing repeatedly at his own jokes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I tweeted after his two speeches saying”” @HossamBadrawi: The president’s\u00a0 speech is unbelievable; he proposes either the Moslem brotherhood in power\u00a0 or bloodshed.””\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also tweeted”@HossamBadrawi: coup d’\u00e9tat is the sudden deposition of a\u00a0 government, by a small group of the existing state establishment to depose it\u00a0 and replace it.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“@HossamBadrawi: When 30 millions make their request clear, when judges, media,\u00a0 artists, professionals and police are supporting, who dares to call it a coup”<\/span><\/p>\n

After being shown helicopter-recorded footage of the millions demonstrating\u00a0 against him, he maintained that this \u201ePhotoshop revolution\u201f actually involved\u00a0 no more than a few thousand people. In a second record-breaking speech (as\u00a0 it turned out, his last), he shook his fist repeatedly, and insisted he was\u00a0 Egypt\u201fs legitimate leader 98 times in 45 minutes. What his audience saw was\u00a0 not the arrogance of power but the vanity of a fool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was a historic uncoupling of Islam and Islamism in the Muslim popular psyche.\u00a0 There were two reasons for it, one secular, and the other religious. As citizens, people\u00a0 were appalled by the Brothers\u201f incompetence in government; and as Muslims, they\u00a0 were outraged by the use of their religion to explain away this incompetence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Brothers made people no longer saw them as god-fearing underdogs striving for\u00a0 power so that they could implement Islam, but as another set of corrupt politicians\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

using Islam to justify themselves. They also detected a darker, more evil side to the\u00a0 Morsi presidency. People also noted the frequent denunciation of the government\u201fs\u00a0 critics as enemies of Islam; the creation of armed groups to monitor public morality;\u00a0 the declaration of a Jihad against Shiites; the release of thousands of militants by\u00a0 presidential amnesty (to be available to terrorize opponents when needed); and the\u00a0 subsequent declaration of an Islamist mini-emirate at the heart of Sinai.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the eve of the June uprising 2013 , Alekhwan set up camp outside the Rabaa\u00a0 al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo and stayed there for forty nights. People would drop by\u00a0 to have a look and to hear what was being said. What they witnessed stiffened their\u00a0 will to rebel. They saw Al-Qaida banners at every corner; heard that the al-Qaida\u00a0 leader, the Egyptian medic Ayman al-Zawahri, was making terrorist threats on the\u00a0 Brothers\u201f behalf; and listened to speeches rallying militants from around the globe,\u00a0 encouraging them to blow themselves up in public squares. Opponents were\u00a0 collectively excommunicated, and threatened with eternal damnation; David\u201fs battle\u00a0 with Goliath was invoked as were the Prophet\u201fs victories over infidels and\u00a0 hypocrites. Any numbers of grandiose claims were made: that the Archangel\u00a0 Gabriel prayed among the Brothers and Prophet Mohamed prayed behind him!!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why most Egyptians accepted the interim government\u201fs designation of the\u00a0 Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in December 2013. Everyone knows\u00a0 that the actual perpetrators of violence are the Brothers\u201f unruly allies: al-Qaida-style\u00a0 groups such as Ansar beit al-Maqdis and Al-Jama\u201fa al-Islamiya. But by turning a\u00a0 political clash into a fully-fledged religious war between Islam and its enemies, the\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brothers created a context for terror. In the eyes of their compatriots, they were\u00a0 ultimately responsible for every car bomb, suicide attack and assassination, as well\u00a0 as the ceaseless attacks on churches ,and museums.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladies and Gentlemen,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moslem brotherhood wanted to change the identity of Egypt and they failed. <\/span>Thanks to the genetic make up of the Egyptian people who lived in peace with\u00a0 themselves, with no differentiation between copts and moslems or Sonnies and Shiite\u00a0 for years. In one year, only one year Egyptians rejected the religious extremism and\u00a0 stopped the fiction in the region. Are they capable of building the future and make their\u00a0 own fiction, this will depend on the leadership and the reform of Education .<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Most people assume that if you can touch an object, taste it, smell it, or hit something\u00a0 with it, it must be real, and their knowledge of its reality is based on the direct\u00a0 apprehension of the facts at hand. Fiction, on the other hand, because it is made up by\u00a0 our minds, is not …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103,16,140,197],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-articles","category-articles-by-dr-badrawi","category-dr-hossam-badrawi-2023","category-translated-articles"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Arab Spring between fact and fiction - by Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hossambadrawi.com\/en\/the-arab-spring-between-fact-and-fiction-by-hossam-badrawi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Arab Spring between fact and fiction - by Hossam Badrawi - Dr. Hossam Badrawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Most people assume that if you can touch an object, taste it, smell it, or hit something\u00a0 with it, it must be real, and their knowledge of its reality is based on the direct\u00a0 apprehension of the facts at hand. 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He is the former head of the Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine Cairo University. He conducted his post graduate studies from 1979 till 1981 in the United States. He was elected as a member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the Education and Scientific Research Committee in the Parliament from 2000 till 2005. As a politician, Dr. Hossam Badrawi was known for his independent stances. His integrity won the consensus of all people from various political trends. During the era of former president Hosni Mubarak he was called The Rationalist in the National Democratic Party NDP because his political calls and demands were consistent to a great extent with calls for political and democratic reform in Egypt. He was against extending the state of emergency and objected to the National Democratic Party's unilateral constitutional amendments during the January 25, 2011 revolution. 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