The Failure of the Nation-State in the Middle East

From time to time, massive events and great public strikes take place in the Middle East and North Africa.

These events and demonstrations reflect a bitter truth, which is, the absence of a modern nation-state even in its primitive version. They, also, reveal realistic obstacles to building a modern nation-state in both regions.

Since the outbreak of what became known as the Arab Spring of 2011 and its devastating repercussions that are continuing so far, the entire region has been boiling, and unexpected reactions emerge by the mass every so often. What is going on in Beirut can be considered as a new chapter of the stalled path of change in Lebanon as well as in whole region.

It is been 77 years of the end of the French Mandate over Lebanon in 1943 and its independence, but the national elites have failed to build a modern nation-state even in its minimum level. Lebanon’s model of failure to build a modern nation-state can be generalised to most countries in the region.

This year is the seventy-fourth since France left Syria and the latter gained its independence, and yet Syria has been suffering from a raging civil war since 2011.

It is been nearly 90 years after the end of the British mandate in Iraq and its independence in 1932, but Iraq is still plagued by corruption, tyranny and the consequences of sectarian quotas and subordination to Iran. Sixty-nine years have passed since Italy left Libya and gained independence in 1951, yet Libya is currently experiencing a fierce civil war since 2011.

Almost 30 years have passed since the declaration of federalism in the Kurdistan region o Iraq in 1991, but there are still two administrations in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Moreover, the two ruling parties have not yet been able to combine them in one administration based on the modern concept of power.

The common fact between what is happening in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and other countries which are about to explode is the inability of the national elites to understand and construct the modern nation-state.

This sad fact, in turn, imposes us to pose another crucial question which is: what are the factual impediments that preventing the establishment of a modern nation-state in Lebanon as well as in most of the MENA?Undoubtedly, this question is very hard to answer or to cover within these words, besides, it is very broad question. Despite there are some differences in the experiences of the above mentioned countries regarding the theme of the modern nation-state, however, there is a common thing between most of them, if not all of them. This is evident in the fact that the

political and intellectual elites in all aforementioned countries have failed resoundingly to comprehend and embody the concept of the modern state. This, in turn, brings us back to the first square, which is the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of applying the modern nation

state theory, which is a Western (Christian) product, to the Islamic world, especially in the MENA. The unpleasant current fact that is inevitable to acknowledge is that the impossibility of

building a modern national state, which is a Western concept, on our geographies because the phenomenon of the rule of law and institutions is alien to our culture, heritage and history. The soil, culture and heritage of our region are only valid for the emergence and persistence of the one-party state, one-leader state, one-sect state, and one-clan state. The current situation will remain for decades to come, and there is no hope for change in the foreseeable and long terms, because the elements of change are almost missing. In this context, I must narrate a universal proverb which says: we cannot give what we do not have or who does not have a thing, cannot give it.

by : Jwan Dibo