Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, delivering an address on the prison industrial complex on Saturday, August 25, 2007. (Photo: Cheryl LaBash).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Mass outpouring of discontent takes on anti-western character
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
As the revolutionary upheaval in Egypt develops where millions of workers, youth and professionals have taken to the streets demanding the removal of the U.S.-backed regime of Hosni Mubarak, the potential for a total collapse of Washington’s foreign policy in the region looms. The situation in Egypt was inspired by the mass demonstrations, strikes and rebellions in Tunisia that resulted in the fleeing of longtime neo-colonial puppet Ben Ali to Saudi Arabia, another imperialist outpost in the Arabian Peninsula.
In addition to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, there have been significant mass actions in Yemen and Jordan, where U.S. imperialism has dominated the governments as a key component of their so-called “war on terrorism” against political Islam. Obama administration officials have been scrambling to formulate and articulate a coherent position on the rapidly developing situation where the people have lost all fear of repression and retaliation from the client states of the region as well as their U.S. benefactors.
Strangely enough President Barack Obama during his “State of the Union” address on Jan. 25, stated that the U.S. supported the democratic aspirations of the people in Tunisia, however, Washington has been a solid supporter of the ruling Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) in Tunisia. The Obama administration maintained its backing of Ben Ali until after he fled the country on Jan. 14.
In regard to the Egyptian uprising, the U.S. administration has refused to publicly call for the removal of Mubarak as of Jan. 31, the day before the April 6 Movement and other opposition forces appealed for a general strike on Feb. 1. These groups said that one million people would enter the streets around the country to demand the immediate removal of Mubarak and his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
U.S. imperialist policy in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has been based on the shoring up of a number of neo-colonial and autocratic regimes. Nonetheless, with the failure of this strategy, the ruling class inside the U.S. is debating what course of action to take in order to maintain its economic and strategic interests in the region.
The Economic Impact of the Uprisings
There is much at stake for the U.S., the European Union and the State of Israel as it relates to the political outcomes of the current crisis. Tunisia has been a source of cheap agricultural products that are marketed in Europe and around the world. Egypt, with its population of 80 million, borders the State of Israel and owns the Suez Canal, a gateway to the most important waterways where vessels transport oil and other resources that are essential to the world capitalist market.
Continuing unrest in Egypt and throughout the region has already impacted the EU countries. According to journalist Simon Kennedy, “European markets fell on Jan. 31 as investors remained nervous about the growing unrest in Egypt, with financial firms, travel companies and car makers posting some of the biggest losses.” (MarketWatch, Jan. 31)
Kennedy also notes that “Monday’s (Jan. 31) retreat came after worries about the situation in Egypt also had pulled Asian markets lower. The main concern for markets is over what would happen if unrest spreads to other countries, said Andy Lynch, European equity fund manager at Schroders.” (MarketWatch, Jan. 31)
This same article continues by saying that “Fears about the potential impact on oil supplies pushed crude-oil prices sharply higher. Lynch said the protests could also lead to policy changes in other countries. ‘The trigger point seems to have been the rise in food prices,’” (MarketWatch, Jan. 31)
These developments have placed additional pressure on the European currency, the Euro, which was artificially shored-up in a bailout package in 2010 that was prompted by the grave economic crises in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. Also the lower than expected U.S. Gross Domestic Product growth rate of only 3.2 percent resulted in a decline in the stock market on Jan. 28 by 166 points.
Even the New York Times admitted that the situation in Egypt could further instability in the capitalist economies around the world. Quoting market researcher Ann Wyman of the Nomura Holdings Inc., who said that she “would expect regional markets to remain unsettled because we don’t look any closer to a political resolution than we did on Friday (Jan. 28).
Wyman went on to say that “Instability in the Middle East makes global markets uncomfortable. We’ve entered a new and unpredictable phase of transitioning governments in the Middle East.” (New York Times, Jan. 31)
U.S. Imperialism Looks for Different Strategy
The current crisis in Egypt, Tunisia and other countries in the region has led to a debate within ruling circles inside the United States and the European Union. Early on in the presidency of Barack Obama he visited Egypt where he delivered a speech calling for a new approach to relations with the predominately Muslim states in the region.
Nonetheless, the same policy has continued with the unconditional support of the State of Israel and the upholding of the dictatorial regimes headed by puppets of the U.S. and other imperialist countries. Conditions for the Palestinians in Gaza have worsened and the documents released by WikiLeaks on the role of the Palestinian Authority, has further confirmed the U.S. interference in the internal affairs of the colonized people.
Even Turkey, a member of NATO, which has been a staunch U.S. military and political ally that maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, has begun to criticize both the Zionist state and Washington’s foreign policy in the region. In May of 2010, the Israeli Navy attacked an aid flotilla heading towards Gaza to provide humanitarian assistance, resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish nationals, one of whom was also a citizen of the United States.
The Israeli government came out on Jan. 31 in support of the Mubarak regime, which as a successor to Anwar Sadat who was killed by assassins in 1981, negotiated a separate peace deal with Tel Aviv that was condemned throughout the region and the world. Israel fears that the coming to power of a new coalition government in Egypt could result in the abrogation of the 1979 peace treaty and the possible reopening of the border between the North African state and Gaza.
In a recent commentary published in the Israeli daily Haaretz, Aluf Benn stated that “Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as ‘the president who lost Iran,’ which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who ‘lost’ Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America’s alliances in the Middle East crumbled.” (Associated Press, Jan. 31)
Hussein Agha and Robert Malley of St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University and the International Crisis Group respectively, said of the current situation in Egypt and throughout the region that “Decades of U.S. policy in the Middle East are coming back to haunt Washington. The United States backed Arab regimes that supported U.S. objectives irrespective of whether they legitimately represented popular aspirations.” (Washington Post, Jan. 31)
Agha and Malley continue by pointing out that “The more they aligned themselves with Washington, the more generous America’s support and the greater the erosion of their domestic credibility. As a result, the United States now faces a battle it cannot win.”
A Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Ed Husain, said in relations to the current crisis for U.S. imperialism in the region that “Arabs regularly accuse America of flagrant hypocrisy: The United States claims that it stands for freedom and democracy and yet supports the world’s most tyrannical governments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. “ (Washington Post, Jan. 31)
Husain went on to note that “Former secretary of state Condoleeza Rice once quipped that America had traded freedom for stability in the region and got neither.“ Demonstrators on the streets of Egypt have openly voiced anti-U.S. and anti-Zionists sentiments that if put into practice in a new government of national unity could result in a profound shift in the political and military balance of forces in North Africa and throughout the Middle East.
Implications for the U.S. workers and the oppressed
With the potential for the collapse of U.S. imperialist policy in Egypt and other states within the region, the stage could be set for an escalation of solidarity efforts in support of the Palestinian people and other oppressed Arab populations within the region. Public opinion within the U.S. has been largely shaped by the lack of debate within the corporate media and political culture over the character of national and class configuration of the region as well as other majority Muslim states such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Nonetheless, despite this lack of debate, more people within the U.S. have come out in support of the legitimate struggles for national independence and self-determination for the Palestinians as well as the people of Lebanon and other neighboring states. The majority of people in the United States oppose the ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and see no possibility for peace outside a total withdrawal of military forces by the Pentagon and NATO.
There have been numerous demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Egypt and Tunisia inside the U.S. and around the world. The upcoming anti-war demonstrations on April 9-10 will inevitably be bolstered by the developing revolutionary movements throughout North Africa and the Middle East.
Anti-Imperialists and anti-war activists must incorporate slogans and programs that support fundamental social change throughout North Africa and the Middle East as well in Central Asia and the Horn of Africa. Moreover, the struggles waged by the workers and youth in Egypt and Tunisia have direct relevance to the people of the U.S. who are also facing high levels of unemployment, growing poverty, cutbacks on public and social services and escalating state repression.
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