In
Arab and Iranian dictators' propaganda there is almost no problem that
is not caused by the existence of Israel, the Middle East’s sole
democracy. Most of the Arab and Muslim states do not recognize Israel's
right to exist. However the
freest Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East live in Israel. The Israeli
government is the only one in the Middle East that is elected by free
citizens -- including Arabs and Muslims. Ironically
even Islamic values seems better to be implemented in Western countries
than in any country in world dominated by Islam.
In my opinion the modern society based on (Western or European) civilization or cultural history might explain the huge imbalance in the Great Middle East.The
core reason for the imbalance between societies in the great Middle
East might be from my point of view in the role of religion in different
societies – in the lines between religion and secularism , between
state and religion, between theocracy and democracy.
Why are Muslims so backward and powerless?
All
the world's Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College,
Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.(Richard Dawkins)
Why
Arabic Spring transformed itself Islamic winter and why also after that
it is so difficult to establish some kind of constititional democracy
in any Arab country even if the majority of population demands the
change of regime. A quite good answer I found from article Why are Muslims so backward and powerless? written by Dr.Farrukh Saleem, the Pakistani Executive Director of the Centre for Research and Security Studies, a think tank established in 2007 and an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. Some highlights from his article describing not only Arab states but Muslim world in general:
- There
are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one
billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six
million in the Americas . Every fifth human being is a Muslim; for every
single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two
Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims. There are 57
member-countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), and
all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university
for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758
universities and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
compiled an 'Academic Ranking of World Universities' , and
intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the
top-500.
- As
per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands
at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy
rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has
an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no
Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent.
- Some
98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed
primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the 'literates' in the
Muslim world did the same.
- Around
40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended
university while no more than two per cent of the 'literates' in the
Muslim world did the same.
- Muslim-majority
countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The US has 4,000
scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire
Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and
there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs. (in the Christian
world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million).
- Furthermore,
the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and
development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of
its GDP.
Dr. Saleem concludes that the Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledgeand continues his statistics:
- Daily
newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are
two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society.
- In
Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the
same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK , the number of book titles
per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.
Sothe Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.Exports
of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an
important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan's export of high
technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per
cent. The same for Saudi Arabia is 0.3 per cent; Kuwait , Morocco , and
Algeria are all at 0.3 per cent, while Singapore is at 58 per cent. So the Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge. Interestingly,
the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion.
America , just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12
trillion; China $8 trillion, Japan $3.8 trillion and Germany $2.4
trillion (purchasing power parity basis). Oil rich Saudi Arabia , UAE,
Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil)
worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over
$1 trillion, Catholic Poland $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand $545
billion. In addition Muslim GDP as a percentage of world GDP is fast declining.
Why are Muslims powerless? Dr. Farrukh Saleem's final conclusion: Because they aren't producing, diffusing and applying knowledge. And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.
Quite the contrary in Israel
For comparison Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay claim to the following:
- Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world. Three Israeli universities are ranked within the top 100 universities in the world. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has risen 4 points from number 57 in 2011 to 53 in 2012, according to the Shanghai Academic Ranking. The Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) was ranked 78th, and the Weizmann Institute of Science was ranked 93rd. The Tel Aviv University ranked in the top 150 while the Bar Ilan University and the Ben Gurion University
were both ranked in the top 400. When ranked according to specific
fields, Israel fares even better. In Mathematics, three universities
made it to the top 100; The Hebrew University in 16th place, Tel Aviv in
30th and the Technion in the top 74. In Computer Science, four Israeli
schools were ranked in the top 100. The Weizmann Institute was ranked
12th, the Technion came in 15th, the Hebrew University 27th, and Tel
Aviv University – 29th.
- Israel
produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a
large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per
capita rates of patents filed. Twenty-four percent of Israel's
workforce holds university degrees - ranking third in the industrialized
world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 percent hold
advanced degrees.
- Israel
leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the
workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70
in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force
employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category
as well.
- In
proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup
companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number
of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the US
(3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech). On a per capita basis, Israel has
the largest number of biotech start-ups. Israel is ranked #2 in the
world for venture capital funds right behind the US and outside
the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ
listed companies. Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -
and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the
world.
- Israel
has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per
capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
- Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined.
- Relative
to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on
earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and
economic opportunity.
- Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita as well Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books and
has more museums per capita than any other country. Israel has the
highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
All
this from a country just 60 years young while engaged in regular wars
with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy
continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own
protection than any other country on earth. Israel is a success
story, and it seems that it will continue: Israel's acceptance into the
exclusive club of OECD, as well last year into EU's Horizon 2020 program
and CERN constitutes recognition of its accomplishments. Its
integration into the global economy is further evidence that it is not
isolated internationally. In the peace negotiations between Israel and
the Palestinians, Israel will be negotiating from a position of
strength. By contrast, the Arab states that are dealing with the
challenges of modernity are in a severe economic, social and political
crisis, particularly since the Arab Spring, and the power gap between
Israel and its Arab neighbors has steadily widened. A strong economy is a
significant factor in the building of military might and also in a
society's ability to withstand a protracted conflict.
Despite
Islam's rise in the region, which is problematic for Israel, Egypt and
Jordan have stuck to the peace treaties. Israel continues to have
unofficial relations with the Gulf emirates and the North African
states. The fluctuations in relations between Israel and the
Palestinians have almost no effect on the relations between Israel and
most of the world. Relations with the Muslim world have actually
improved since Israel established good relations with Muslim states in
the Caucasus and central Asia, which became independent after the
disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Non-Muslim Countries Lead in Islamic Values!
“We
must emphasize that many countries that profess Islam and are called
Islamic are unjust, corrupt, and underdeveloped and are in fact not
‘Islamic’ by any stretch of the imagination.”( Hossein Askari)
In
a BBC interview, Hossein Askari, an Iranian-born academic, Professor of
International Business and International Affairs at George Washington
University said a study by himself and colleague Dr Scheherazde S
Rehman, also rates Israel (27) as being more compliant with the ideals
of the Koran than any predominantly Muslim country. Not a single
majority Muslim country made the top 25 and no Arab country is in the
top 50. In doing the study they applied the ideals of Islam in the areas
of a society’s economic achievements, governance, human and political
rights, and international relations, he said. On that index “Muslim
countries do very badly,” he said and accused them of using religion as
an instrument of power.
“Looking
at an index of Economic Islamicity, or how closely the policies and
achievements of countries reflect Islamic economic teachings - Ireland,
Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore,
Finland, Norway, and Belgium round up the first 10”. In their ‘Overall
Islamicity Index’, a measure that encompasses laws and governance, human
and political rights, international relations, and economic factors,
“the rankings are much the same: New Zealand, Luxembourg, Ireland,
Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and
the Netherlands; and again only Malaysia (38) and Kuwait (48) make it
into the top 50 from Muslim countries,” he said.
“If
a country, society, or community displays characteristics such as
unelected, corrupt, oppressive, and unjust rulers, inequality before the
law, unequal opportunities for human development, absence of freedom of
choice (including that of religion), opulence alongside poverty, force,
and aggression as the instruments of conflict resolution as opposed to
dialogue and reconciliation, and, above all, the prevalence of injustice
of any kind, it is prima facie evidence that it is not an Islamic community,” he said.
Source and more in An Economic IslamicityIndex by Scheherazade S. Rehman and Hossein Askari and in BBC interview .
My conclusions
So, why are Muslims so powerless? Answer: Lack of education. All we do is shouting to Allah the whole day and blame everyone else for our multiple failures! ( Dr. Farrukh Saleem)
In
my opinion the core obstacle to democracy in Arab countries is that a
big share of population does not have access to many-sided information
sources nor they don't have means to make a critical analysis even about
that limited information which they can reach. When biased (ruling
regime) tv-broadcasts, rumours and fanatic provocatours lay the basis to
ones personal decisions the public opinion easily reflects the will of
others.
The cause for the huge imbalance between societies in the Great Middle East might be in the role of religion in different societies. In Israel there is a clear line between religion and state, and in overall European or Western countries have embraced secularism. In Arab or Muslim dominated countries Islam is more than a religion and it is primarily a political system controlling all aspects of the life of the believer. The main difference of approaches is that in democracy, laws are made by people but in Islam the laws made by people are not recognized as the laws are made by God and the ruler, as the executioner of divine law, is not accountable to the people. In a strict theocratic system with Allah alone at its head and where allah’s law is interpreted by a ruling body of clerics is absolutely incompatible with democracy as there is no room for a secular political system in which all people are treated as equals.
The
progress and the political and economic reforms that spread across the
world during the 20th Century largely skipped the Arab world and much of
the Muslim world. Come the 21st Century, with all the new technological
power and information, not only with Al-Jazeera, through the internet
and social networks that we are familiar with; and it hits these
societies with a harsh blow; it exposed the citizens of these countries
to what they had been missing. This caused a huge turmoil as these
changes did not occur gradually, allowing for economic and political
liberalism. The
irony of the Arab Spring was that in opening the door for popular
discontent, it demonstrated that while the discontent was real, it was
neither decisive nor clearly inclined toward constitutional democracy.
Different
paths of development – or lack of that – in Israel vs Arab countries
are creating in my opinion basic obstacle to solve Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. As democratic constitutional
state Israel must deal with more or less undemocratic regimes,
tyrannies,dictatorships. At best the peace treaties can gain time for
some period, at worst the treaty is immediately forgot after ceremonies
and photo-opportunity. From my perspective peace process can be
successful only if it sprouts from the grassroots of society – otherwise
it is both pointless and useless.
The Global Peace Index (GPI) is implemented by organization called Vision of Humanity, which groups together a number of interrelated initiatives focused on global peace. As its mission Visions of Humanity brings a strategic approach to raising the world’s attention and awareness around the importance of peacefulness to humanity’s survival in the 21st century. Now on May Vision of Humanity published its new edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI). It has been expanded to rank 162 independent states and updated with the latest-available figures and information for 2013-14.
Iceland 
Denmark 
Austria 
Slovenia 
Romania 
Croatia 
Bulgaria 
Serbia 
Albania 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Montenegro 
Greece 
Kosovo 
Moldova 
Macedonia (FYR) 
Georgia 
Armenia 
USA 
Brazil 
China 
Azerbaijan 
Turkey 
India 
Ukraine 
Russia 
Afghanistan 
Iraq 
Syria 
Global challenges, such as climate change, decreasing biodiversity, lack of fresh water and overpopulation, call for global solutions and these solutions will require co-operation on a global scale unparalleled in history. Peace is the essential prerequisite because without it the level of needed co-operation, inclusiveness and social equity necessary to solve these challenges will not be achieved. The big challenge at global, regional and state level is to strengthen factors – or “drivers” of peace in social structures and attitudes.
