For a long time many countries in North Africa and the Middle East had remained impervious to democratic change and we were told that there are some states that cannot be democratic. Political gurus and senior politicians of the West even coined an excuse for these states that their religious and cultural experiences were such that they could not take democracy as practised in the West or in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. When justifying their complicity in the dictatorial systems in these countries, Western powers always argued that it was imperative "to maintain a practical relationship with the autocrats" in order to maintain peace and stability. Those who suggested that the reason some of these dictators were treated with kid gloves was for the mere fact that the imperialist West were merely interested in oil and other minerals were dismissed with utter contempt. But with all the spontaneous revolts taking place in these states we now know that the Arab world has surely been short-changed.
So, it is untrue after all that democracy and Islam do not go hand in hand. We are at least heartened that British Prime Minister David Cameron has owned up to this historical mistake in the imperial policies of the West in their dealings with the oil sheiks.
