GoodGovernance, IslamicProjectFuture
The regional state emerged from the point of decline in Arab-Islamic civilization, aligning with the selective secular approach (though it's a blurred hybrid), in terms of excluding the concept of religion from the movement of the new society belonging to a global system that began to form on the ruins of the Islamic caliphate (the Ottoman). This new system is based on adopting the concepts of materialistic philosophy in both its Western (capitalist system) and Eastern (communist system) aspects.
The National Bourgeois State is Founded on Liberal Principles in Economy, Politics, Rule of Law, and Constitution
The establishment of the Arab regional state occurred within this ideological framework that transcends religious points, replacing it with secularism, which will represent a blurred Arab approach in governance, administration, and culture, equipped with nationalist concepts - based on superficial adornment - such as Pharaonic, Egyptian, national, Toronian, Phoenician, and other concepts shaping the new era, intentionally disregarding two fundamental concepts: the nation and the caliphate, while elevating the concept of 'state' and promoting it as the new salvation from all forms of poverty, disease, ignorance, and backwardness.
Patterns of the Regional State and Governance Systems
The concept of the regional state did not emerge from the depths of the same Arab environment. Instead, it underwent a regressive process to embrace tribal concepts, paternal authority, and the traditions of despotism and classism rooted in the pre-Islamic Arab environment. In light of this, several patterns have emerged for the image of the new Arab Regional State, aligning with the nature of these traditions and their specificity in their new environment. We can observe these patterns in the following forms(1):
1- The National Bourgeois State:
This type of regional state is based on liberal principles in both economy and politics, advocating for the rule of law, constitutionality, and the preservation of public freedoms. However, this remains until its political system is endangered, leading to a transformation into a despotic regime seeking protection from the military, until its political system and its particular class interests stabilize.
2- The Revolutionary National State:
This image is built upon declaring war against all forms of colonization, aiming to nationalize many economic institutions. Along the way, it also targets political pluralism institutions (parties, press, and media in general) and engages in some social contributions that attract the most deprived and impoverished classes in society, with the aim of forming a social base to support it in wielding power despotically or in the face of potential failures, at the expense of intellectuals, thinkers, opinion holders, and opposition movements that criticize its actions.
The revolutionary state is based on declaring war on forms of colonization, and along the way, it seizes political pluralism institutions
In this pattern, the head of state transforms into the sole leader to whom everyone must submit. He represents the source of law, legislation, and everything else, imposing his idea of security that opposes all ideas of renaissance and progress, which are often sacrificed alongside intellectuals, thinkers, and opinion holders. This image combines "proletarianism" in form and "oligarchy" in governance, using oppression as a weapon to enforce its concepts and policies.
3- Rentier State:
This pattern began to emerge at the beginning of the Arab oil era, driven by the global capitalist system's desire to dominate this region for natural and geopolitical reasons. Simultaneously, with the implantation of the Zionist entity and the signing of contractual agreements for the extraction of fossil fuels and their derivatives using technological tools, in exchange for a life of material prosperity, purchasing technology, and achieving material pleasure for the peoples of these countries.
In terms of governance, the rentier state reintroduced tribal and clan concepts to form a capitalist class allied with the capitalist system, with which it unified in its specific goals (remaining in power, material prosperity).
The rentier state emerged at the beginning of the oil era, driven by the capitalist system's desire to dominate this region
The Regional State and Civilizational Possibilities
Has the regional state in any of its forms achieved an opportunity for civilizational potential? The truth cannot be answered with a simple yes or a half-yes; rather, it can be said that what the regional state has achieved in its various forms is all against civilizational potential. For example, its political subordination to the Western system has been a disastrous outcome for this experience, with the Gaza model being a clearer and more explicit manifestation of this result.
As for the civilizational aspect, westernization and secularism have formed a dangerous turning point for the Arab nation's civilizational status. The late thinker and advisor Tareq Al-Bashri pointed to this by saying: "One of the most dangerous aspects of moral corruption in this regard is that what was considered an internal factor has become an external factor in assessing historical events themselves. The situation has been reflected, so what was once an external factor, like the French campaign in Egypt, is sometimes treated as if it were an internal factor, when some view it as a contributing element to progress and advancement.
This assessment has been made under the dictate of the prevailing concept of the 'unity of the era' in the international and civilizational sense, resulting in estrangement and adherence to the bonds of subordination to the West. The adherence referred to here is not material, political, or economic, but rather related to consciousness. "(2)
The Arabs Have Lost the Potential for the Establishment of Arab Unity on National, Economic, Political, or Civilizational Grounds
And he adds, clarifying the connection and continuation of the westernization movement and the absence of consciousness and the achievement of detachment from roots, history, and civilizational dispersion, saying: “I believe that the prevailing value for us now about contemporaneity or the unity of the modern era in its international and civilizational sense is one of the foundations of what is being promoted of values and concepts that produce a mixing of self-awareness. It is one of the foundations of the estrangement and cultural absorption we suffer from, and its impact is not limited to corrupting our view of our reality and our circumstances from our own distinct perspective. It nurtures our civil and material welfare, but it also extends to our view of our past, reshaping it unlike what actually happened in the past. It also establishes subordination and fragmentation, not only in reality alone, but also in the very consciousness.” (3)
Moreover, the investigation into human rights files and the status of the Arab individual undoubtedly illustrates the regression of any path towards civilizational potential, where repression and deterioration of political rights and social justice prevail, and indicators of basic rights in health and education decline in a large part of the Arab homeland, in exchange for the constant threat of replacing everything in return for stability and security!
The Arabs have also lost any possibility of establishing Arab unity, neither on a national, nor on an economic, nor on a political, nor on a civilizational basis, as the factors of spiritual, cultural, and religious unity have been absent among the new governing systems, each of which has presented its own vision for each state individually.
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(1) See important readings on this topic:
- Muhammad Said Talib: "The Modern State and the Search for Identity," Amman, Dar Al-Shorouk, 1999.
- Burhan Ghalyoun: "The Assassination of the Mind: The Crisis of Arab Culture Between Salafism and Subordination," Cairo, Madbuli Bookstore, 3rd edition, 1990.
- Mohammed Abid Al-Jabri: "The Problematic of Democracy and Civil Society in the Arab World," Beirut, Al-Mustaqbal Al-Arabi Journal, Issue (167), 1993.
(2) Tareq Al-Bishri: "Reform and Renewal in My Nation: A Local and Civilizational Craftsmanship" in: "Reform in the Nation Between Internal and External Factors," Annual of My Nation in the World, Cairo, Civilization Center for Political Studies, 2006, p. 8.
(3) Ibid., p. 8.
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