Towards Mediterranean unity

Our response to the epochal moment of rebellion against the despots of North Africa should not be conditioned by the petty thinking of the past. The anti imperialists of yesterday have no right to interpret our world with their fossilized ideology which not only paints the world in black and white but is guilty of the same racism of the political right wing which considers arabs as being tribal, primitive and incapable of a democracy.

Some would say that we should lets the Arabs sort their mess alone ignoring the west's historical responsibilities. And here am not referring to military intervention but to a new political process of euro-med unity based on liberal democracy and an end to neo-colonialism i.e. the racist notion of dealing with third world elites to keep the borders safe from migrants and commerce going.

Instead we should embark on a very long journey of unifying the two shores of the Mediterranean with the ultimate goal being a new political block-comprehending both Europe and all democratic Mediterranean states, a block where there is freedom of movement for both capital and peoples and were political and civil rights, social and environmental protection are also harmonized.

Yes ultimately neo liberalism (the belief that capitalism should be subjected to the least amount of democratic scrutiny) and liberal democracy are far from one and the same thing.

As regards Libya the absence of civil society and a rational bureaucracy (a legacy of the criminal regime-something which makes Gaddafi worse than Ben Ali and Mubarak) will complicate matters but my hunch is that the major force for change is a profound desire to live without fear and to share individual experiences in the exciting prospects offered by globalisation and the new technologies.

It is the same desire which triggers revolt in all arab states and i hope in other dictatorial countries worldwide including those countries professing anti imperialism but who fear pluralism and openness like Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, China, Zimbabwe etc etc.

Dear Mr. anti imperialist wherever your are: It is not a crime to desire a normal life.