Shahid Javed Burki on the power of the military in the Arab Spring

The revolutions of the Arab Spring will only be truly successful once the countries in question curtail the power of the military, writes Pakistani economist Shahid Javed Burki in the daily Público: "Since Islam's founding in the seventh century, it has maintained a tradition of strong military engagement in politics and governance. Indeed, Islam's increasing military prowess helped it to spread rapidly around the world. ... Today, the revolutions rocking much of the Muslim world are bedevilled by Islam's military past. In the first phase of these popular uprisings, those who had been politically and economically excluded began to demand inclusion and participation. Now a second phase is under way, marked by a serious effort to divest the old military establishment of its power. ... Since the Arab Spring began, four long-established regimes have been removed, while others are under increasing pressure, giving ordinary Arabs hope that their demands will no longer be ignored, and that those who govern will be mindful of citizens' needs. But that - the real revolution - will happen only when true representatives of citizens, rather than the military, begin to set their countries' political course."

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