Politics of Middle East

Question: Discuss about the Politics of Middle East. Answer: Introduction Life of the Islamic people varies greatly that from the people from the West. It has been considered that world of Islam was in the forefront of the civilizations. However, with the initiation of modernity, the Islamic culture and people were separated from the world. They were considered as less educated and even less civilized. This paper will discuss the nature of authoritarian regimes in Middle East and how it affects the private life of people. Middle Eastern Authoritarian Regimes The political regime of the Middle East is considered to be unstable and undemocratic. The political system can also be called as democracy deficit. Some of the countries in Middle East are considered to be democratic (Morocco, Kuwait and Lebanon), some are considered to be partially democratic (like Iraq and Egypt), while others are considered to have authoritarian regimes (Gumuscu, 2010). Authoritarian regime is also considered as a type of government, which has strong power and allow very limited political freedom. Such government puts many constraints on the political parties, interest groups and political institutions. For such government, legitimacy is mainly based on the emotions. The democracies also have limited freedom, regular elections and also have political parties, but the power mainly remains in the hands of the regimes. For example, Lebanon has the regular elections and also political parties but the political system remains constrained by sectarian affiliations and neopatrimonial clientalistic properties (Khondker, 2011). There are the dominant elites, who control the system of countries. The individual choices and gender roles are mainly affected by the role of class. The society is divided in the working class and elite class. The authoritarian regime is achieved when the elite groups hold all the power in the rising economy. The elite group work towards getting a political position to seek their own political agendas. The life of the people is affected, due to the imbalance. The life of the people is restricted mainly due to class identity. The abundance of the oil is in the hands of the elite and powerful people, which also impact the political outcomes. The image of the women is different in the Middle East then in the West. Women have faced many inequalities in the past that still affects her image in present. The past secular law in Iraq gave rise to the practice of pleasure marriages. Women were used for pleasure in the name of marriage (Lewis, 2003). Man used to get married to woman for few days, weeks or months just to satisfy their physical needs. These were the temporary marriages, which resulted in many STDs and illegitimate children. The religious interference deteriorated the quality of life of women and also challenged their rights. The legal rights of the women were less protected in the Islamic World. People were forced to live the life according to the rules of the authoritarian regimes. Thus, democratization is required in the Middle East. Democratization is the process of bringing transition in the political system by changing authoritarian regimes to democratic political system. It is very important that religious and state interfere in democratization, because religion is of great significant in the political system of Middle East and working in collaboration may bring significant changes. The religious groups in Iraq have also considered pleasure marriages as illegal. The secular law of Iraq also sup[ports the rights of women, thus religious and state interference in democratization seems to be important. Women are objectified in the Middle Eastern countries in comparison to West. The patriarchal structure of the society has resulted in the violence and victimization of women. There is a significant relationship between patriarchy and authoritarianism. The authoritarianism regimes has resulted in authoritarian family structure and had also increased violence against women. Obedience has served as the virtue that feeds the mechanism of authoritarianism (Ghanim, 2009). The pride and honor of the men is considered to be superior then life of women. This relationship between obedience and authoritarianism has also impacted the gender relationships. Authoritarianism has inflated the male ego, which in turn increases family violence against women (Mernissi, 2009). The generations of young people are challenging these restrictions, as women are now outraged. Thus, new legal law in Iraq and other places are providing some freedom to them. The young generation is marching against the restricti ons and invasion of their privacy. They are challenging the authority of the regimes and fighting against the taboos. Conclusion The society of the Middle East is the Islamic society. It has long, restricted people and also interfered with their normal rights. The gender differences are quite significant in the society. This essay demonstrated that what are the problems people are facing due to authoritarian regimes and what has been the impact on life of women. References Mernissi, F. (2009). Islam and democracy: Fear of the modern world. Basic books. Ghanim, D. (2009).Gender and violence in the Middle East. ABC-CLIO. Gumuscu, S. (2010). Class, status, and party: The changing face of political Islam in Turkey and Egypt.Comparative Political Studies,43(7), 835-861. Khondker, H. H. (2011). Role of the new media in the Arab Spring.Globalizations,8(5), 675- 679. Lewis, B. (2003).What went wrong?: the clash between Islam and modernity in the Middle East. Harper Collins.