On May 23rd, John L. Esposito from Georgetown University discussed the impact of the Arab Spring on Arab politics and Western foreign policy.
Initially, Esposito stressed the importance of listening to public opinion polls. This is particularly important for breaking the myth of Arab politics promoted by authoritarian regimes and the West alike, that Muslim countries cannot by nature be democratic. By accepting the regimes’ ideology of ‘Muslim democratic exceptionalism’, the West refrained from promoting an effective democratization process in the MENA area.
