Guaranteed rules for destroying homelands!
Throughout history, the experiences of nations’ rise, fall, or collapse—as seen in many of our Arab homelands—offer lessons and warnings. They reveal that certain practices, if left unchecked, inevitably lead to the destruction of nations. These include:
1. Undermining established legitimate authorities. Conditions in many of our Arab countries have deteriorated only through attacks on and questioning of long-standing, humane systems, whether monarchical—as occurred in Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen—or peaceful republican systems, such as those led by Presidents Abd al-Rahman Aref, Shukri al-Quwatli, al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, and others.
2. Remaining silent about alternative loyalties to the state and homeland, which erode national allegiance.
3. Criticizing, undermining, and mocking all decisions and legislation issued by legitimate authorities, while admiring everything issued by other countries and parties to which some owe their loyalty, even when those entities have caused the destruction and ruin of their own homelands.
4. The historical ruin of kingdoms has resulted from the philosophy of drawing the enemy closer and pushing the neighbor away, under the pretext that the enemy is “guaranteed” to remain an enemy. In the end, both are lost: the enemy remains an enemy, and the neighbor turns into an adversary.
5. Failing to place the right people in the right positions, and remaining silent about erring officials until they sink and drag others down with them. Instead, the mechanism of dismissal should be activated, and the principle upheld that a good politician and official are... a good butcher!
6. Allowing corruption to spread without serious efforts to combat it, or even permitting the proliferation of a false perception of corruption. Merely fighting corruption is not enough; media plans must be implemented so that everyone is aware of this effective fight.
7. Failing to build reservoirs of the best local and foreign minds capable of detecting sources of danger and preparing for them before they occur.
8. Failing to instill a sense of national spirit and love for the homeland in the hearts of young and old, so that they are prepared to sacrifice and die for it.
9. The necessity of enacting laws that strongly combat all those who exploit the bounties of the homeland, and of working tirelessly against them.
10. Never believing that the survival and permanence of homelands are linked to any particular form of political practice. The homelands that fell and were destroyed throughout history reflected every shade of political practice, from dictatorship to democracy.
11. The ability to be flexible and intelligent in forming alliances and betting on winning issues and horses, while avoiding losing issues and horses, where betting on them harms the bettors by association.
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Final stop: Most importantly, what are we planting in the minds of the men and women of the nation? Do all feel secure and safe, knowing they live in a permanent homeland with no alternative? Or is there acceptance of those who, in word and deed, promote the idea of a temporary homeland and a “fuel-station” homeland that is stolen and plundered without any deterrent against this destructive concept?
