Document Type : Original Independent Original Article
Author
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Science, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran
Abstract
Highlights
Introduction
In order to communicate with its people, every government needs to agree on a set of principles, which is referred to as a social contract. The emergence of the social contract in the Arab world dates back to after the Second World War, when due to formation of welfare states in most countries, providing comprehensive services to the society was considered one of the main features of a government. However, this contract began to erode due to events such as the sharp increase in oil prices in the world markets due to oil embargo imposed by Arab countries on the West and the economic recession in the following decade. This situation eventually acted as a catalyst and triggered a wave of unrest in the Arab world, which is referred to as the Arab Spring, Islamic Awakening, etc. A close look at the situation of Arab states during the past decade shows that instead of paying attention to the elements required for generating a comprehensive social contract that is able to solve their current problems, the said states are focused on projecting and attributing their problems to outside of their borders in order to take advantage of sectarian feelings within the framework of conspiracy theory. In other words, instead of making necessary changes towards good governance, Arab rulers have chosen to ignore the elephant in the room by securitizing non-security issues and linking the rightful demands of their people to the provocations of some regional rival countries.
Research Method
Since methodology is a function of the theory in a scientific work, here we will try to explain our methodology by delineating the theory we have used. Despite its long standing in the history of the mankind, systematization of security as an academic discipline is a relatively new practice. During the Cold War, due to issues governing the relations between the then two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, security was recognized only from a military point of view in the international dimension. With the end of the Cold War, the field of security studies started growing to include even human beings, overpassing the institution of the government. The Copenhagen School of Security is a comprehensive theory in the field of security studies, which includes other aspects of security such as social, economic, cultural security, etc. in addition to paying attention to the security of political institutions. Considering emergence time and the content of this school, the methodology of this study is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. In other words, some areas, such as the economic area, can be analyzed quantitatively to be the base of an analysis for the security situation. While in some other fields, such as social security, the issue of freedom of speech or statesmen’s attention to human dignity cannot be investigated simply and accurately based on quantitative methods.
Findings
Investigations show that the social contract in the Arab word is on the verge of collapsing due to inattention of governing systems to some socio-economic areas. On the other hand, the nature of the institution of the government in the Arab world has blocked the dialogue channel between the society and the government. In other words, the only way for the population to convey their civil demands in Arab states is the street. The second barrier is the governing structure of these states in terms of lacking of social mobility, in the sense that people are condemned to remain in their existing social and family status and no efforts can help them. General policies of the system have increased poverty instead of improving people’s livelihood. It can be said that the inclusion scope of these programs is much lower than the number of the people who consider themselves with a higher status compared to the past as a result of these programs. The forth factor is illegitimate democratic entities. Arab states have established modern institutions of power such as parliaments or state parties in order to keep pace with other countries. However, these entities lack usual functionalities due to being normative. The fifth factor is the governance crisis in the Arab world. Political affiliation, ideological beliefs, and royal ties are the criteria by which governments choose a small part of the society to hand over the main share of political and economic power. Finally, the last obstacle to achieving a new social contract is the conflict between traditional beliefs in Arab societies on the one hand and the social prosperity of women in light of international developments of the past few decades on the other.
Results
In order to achieve stability and establish organic relations with their societies, Arab governments need to redefine themselves and their governance missions. Above all, they need to accept the rule of law as the basis of the modern governance and develop it at the community level. Understanding changes and developments of the international system is the next step that will help them pave the way for further integration with the changing international environment taking into account their cultural principles and foundations. The demand for respecting human rights and preserving individual freedoms is now the main part of people’s identity, and these demands go beyond existing definition of identity in connection with national flags or being Arab or Muslim. One of the current security concerns of Arab societies is related to the main identities of citizens in today’s globalized world. Such identities often conflict with one another. This is not limited to sectarian identities, but also includes existing political and social identities. For years, political institutions in many Arab countries have formed identities that were imposed upon citizens by governments. Governments fought hard to create identities that do not match their general political programs. In short, Arab governments should implement their policies based on two axes. First, adherence of the government and other elements of the political system to the law; and secondly, adaptation of policies to changes of the international environment.
Keywords
Main Subjects
', './data/isjq/coversheet/61666549980.jpg'))