Discovering MENA and other thoughts

“Uno se forma siempre ideas exageradas de lo que no conoce”, declara Meursault, el protagonista de la novela  El extranjero  de Camus, un argelino que se muestra insensible ante todo lo que sucede en su país. Un lugar que durante años ha conseguido evitar que sus vecinos y socios occidentales interfieran en sus asuntos y opinen sobre cómo sus autoridades se han enfrentado a diferentes amenazas. He aquí los principales motivos de esta conquista.

Sometimes, it seems as though the only factors which contribute to sketch the future of the Middle East, most of them I laid out in this article , are out of the control of the citizens: sectarianism, repression, foreign intervention, coups (or non-coups)... However, and even though democracy may (still) not be seen as the key strength of the region, several elections are taking place in many of its countries. Concretely eight, nothing less, and in what many consider key countries that do have a say in regional - and often international - issues. This is why, although many may feel tempted to dismiss those events as procedural or even cosmetic moves, we all should take a closer look at the previous steps and the outcome of these votes.

There have been many comments on the media about an eventual "Algerian Spring". Some quickly retort Algeria already had its own Spring more than twenty years ago. Others are waiting for it. The rest believe things will never really change in the North-African country, at least not any time soon. Algeria has been dubbed the "bad pupil" of the Arab awakenings, the exception from this exciting phenomenon, a country where the status quo seems not to have been modified that much, despite the reforms put through by the regime one year ago.