Comparative Political Conflicts - Term Paper Example

Democracy can be defined to as a form of government where all eligible citizens are involved in choosing theirgovernment mostly through free and fair elections and active participation of citizens in protecting their rights. It also means a rule of law where rules and regulations apply to all citizens regardless of their social and political status. Democracy involves political, social religious, cultural and ethnicity equality and it is composed of four basic elements: 1. Poltical system. This is where representatives are elected into the parliament through free and fair elections by the citizens. 2. Participation of citizens (actively.) 3. Guarding of human rights. 4. A rule of law. There are various types of democracies (Avraham 12). The first one is the political democracy. In this type of democracy, citizens choose their representatives in the government, mostly in the parliament, national and local level (Bassioun 4). These representatives are chosen through free and fair elections from different competing parties. Any nation can conduct its elections but for an election to be free and fair a lot of organizations, preparations and training of political parties, electoral officials and civil society whose role is to ensure that elections are conducted efficiently (Avraham 16). Social democracy is another type of democracy. It is a political principle whose role is to establish democratic socialism (Bassioun 36). Democratic socialism is established through reforms and gradual methods. More so, it is also known as a political system that is involved in universal welfare and collective bargaining schemes which are within the framework of an economy which is capitalized (Avraham 15) In addition, there is the direct democracy which is also known as pure democracy. It is a form of democracy where citizens decide, vote and form a consensus on matters affecting them. This is opposed to a representative democracy where people vote for representatives who become the policy makers. Direct democracy depends on the system in use. It involves making and passing executive decisions and laws. There are two forms of direct democracy, these are; participatory democracy and deliberate democracy (Avraham 23). POLITICAL CRISIS IN EGYPT Political crisis is a major phenomenon in all countries of the world. It is a situation where there is instability in the government and the situation is usually very dangerous to individuals, group, community and the society in general (Bassiouni 11). It involves protests from the citizens whose are either dissatisfied by the government or citizens who want a change in the government system, and the government is reluctant to those changes. It can refer to problems faced by a government dealing with itself and its inability to deal with those problems (Bassioun 23).In Egypt there has been numerous protests since Mohamed Morsi was elected as the president. In 22 November 2012, thousands of protesters started demonstrating against President Mohamed Morsi (Bassioun 24). These demonstrations resulted from the announcement which was done by the president himself, of a temporary constitutional declaration which granted the president unlimited powers (Bassiouni 43). President Morsi did this in an effort to protect the already elected constituent assembly from dissolution by the bench of judges appointed during President Mubarak era. These demonstrations were organized and funded by many organizations. Among these organizations are the Egyptian opposition and Christians based organizations. These protests have caused numerous violent clashes between morsi-supporters and the anti-morsi protesters. It has resulted to the death of many innocent citizens mostly children and woman (Bassiouni, 23). The anti-morsi protesters were estimated to be at 200,000. They gathered outside the president palace which was as a result surrounded by tanks and armored motors of the republican guards. Historical tragedies. “Historical tragedies do not arise when right clashes with wrong. They occur when right clashes with right.” This quotation is as true as it sounds. Historical tragedies occur between countries who in one way or the other benefits from each other. Countries with high profits natural resources are in danger of getting into conflicts with other nations with the same of different but equally profitable natural resource. Countries with large oil deposits have experienced numerous, senseless attacks from outside countries who may be interested in their richness. A good example is the Arab/ Israel conflict. All Arabs countries claimed their rights to be recognized as Free states but Israel was not ready to listen. Israel was supported by the United States of America. This combination of power weakened the Arabs military forces. History of Arab- Israel conflict The Arab/ Israel conflict is a modern and a common phenomenon which traces its steps since the end of 19th century (Daniel, 25).This conflict has resulted to major wars and some minor conflicts. It has resulted to two major Palestinian uprisings. The war resulted to the fall of major leaders of the world. Specifically, the leaders of the Arabs countries (Daniel 23).In the Middle East each military victory has led to a political defeat; each attempt at peace has failed or proven fragile and incomplete. There is little hope for peace at the current moment (Daniel, 23). Moreover, the Israel / Palestinian struggle has international dimensions and factors significantly in many other conflicts in the region and the world. The Israel / Palestinian struggle has caused 5 major wars which had had very serious consequences. The Middle East region has experienced conflict than any other part of the world (Daniel 25). The first major war was the 1948 Arab – Israel war. It was a first war of bloody and hostile battle. It was triggered by the announcement of Israel’s independence which was done on 14 may 1948. It was also caused by international and regional factors which catalyst the war. This war saw Israel win the battle but it left significant consequences which are still visible today. As a result of this war, Israel retained the land which was initially set aside and recommended for proposed Jewish state. The war also triggered some important demographic changes in Israel and the Middle East. This war also saw the exodus of Jewish from the Arab lands (Bassiouni 23). As if that was not enough, in 1956 another war broke between Israel and Arabs. From 1949 – 1956 the truce between Israel and Arabs was punctuated by raids and reprisals (Bassiouni 45). United States, Great Britain and France supported Israel while the Soviet Union sided with Arabs and supported their demands. On 29 October 1956, Israel attacked Egypt with combined air and ground assaults. This war saw the Israel defeat Egypt (Bassiouni 46). The Suez Canal was reopened that year but under Egypt management. Although the Egypt was defeated, it was considered a great political win for the president Nasser and from that time he was referred to as the leader of the Arab World (Bassioun 76). In addition to this, in 1967 there was a six day war. The war took place between June 5th and June 10th. (Daniel 35).This war was started by General Moshe Dayan who was the Israel defense minister at that time. On learning about the impending attack by the around nation that surrounds it, Israel defended the war. (Daniel, 45). This was a preventive measure by the military. This war was against Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israel speculated that it was just a matter of time and the three Arab countries would attack it. Rather than wait to be attacked, Israel conducted a massive and successful military campaign against the three Arab countries. The war was as a result disastrous for the Arab world since it caused the fall of the man considered to be the leader of the Arabs-General Abdul Nasser of Egypt. More so, this war reduced the morale of the Arabs military forces (Daniel 53). Peace attempts Due to significant consequences caused by these major wars between Arab countries and Israel, it was quite thoughtful to come up with strategies that would ensure peace was maintained between these countries (Sela 12). Among these peace attempts are the Camp David Accords which was signed by Egyptian president Anwars ELSadat and Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978. Another attempt was the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty (Sela 15).This peace treaty was signed in Washington, DC, United States of America. This treaty saw Israel withdrawal of its armed forces and civilians from the Arab countries, mostly Sinai. In addition to this, there is the Madrid Conference in 1991. This conference was hosted in Spain and was sponsored by the USA and the USSR. It took place on October 30, 1991. It lasted for 3 days (Sela 29). Work Cited Top of Form Sela, Avraham. Arab-Israeli Conflict: Middle East Politics and the Quest for Regional Order. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. Internet resource. Bottom of Form Top of Form Bassiouni, A Guide to Documents on the Arab-Palestinian/israeli Conflict, 1897-2008. Danvers, Mass: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009. Print. Bottom of Form Top of Form Daniel. Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East. Washington, D.C: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2008. Print. Top of Form Eisenberg, Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press, 2010. Print. Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More