After political dullness Muslim Brotherhood turns to culture

What combines Egypt, Syria, Libya and Tunisia - besides the popular revolutions - is this stage of labour the four countries are passing through. It seems quite a long stage could either reshape these states, or split them into fragments and in the background there is the threat of political dullness that could yield another cultural dullness. It is true that the real change did not occur in Syria and the revolution continues, but it is also true that Syria will not be the same, especially that the fall of the regime is just a matter of time. The fall of Assad's regime would be among the most important events in 2013, given that it will launch the process of redrawing the Middle East map. The bases for this process were laid down with the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003.   Toppling Saddam Hussein was necessary, not just for Iraq, but for the entire region. But the US did not realise - or may be it did - that invading Iraq would shake the foundations of the regional system that has existed since the twenties of the last century after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Yes, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Tunisia will live a long stage of labour because their rulers sought to abolish political life. The regime which was held in Egypt since July 23 1952, following a military coup, did not leave any room for a normal political life. This was calumniated during the last election under President Hosni Mubarak. Not even one member of the Muslim Brotherhood could win a parliamentary seat in these elections, though they represent a significant proportion of the Egyptians. It was better to leave them to enter the People's Assembly and even form the government - this was the only way to uncover their reality and put their abilities to solve problems to the test. In Syria, where violence is growing on a daily bases, the "Big Bang" was very much expected, as the entity, which was formed as a result of the Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916, was under threat. Alawites, who tried in the thirties to modify the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement to be part of Greater Lebanon rather than be part of a country with a Sunni majority, failed to do so and since they gradually ascended to power starting with the coup of March 1963 and down to Hafiz al-Assad taking office in February 1971. They worked on destroying the institutions of the state. Al-Assad has done this by shortening the state into security services under his direct control. As for Libya, its fate is very vague. The only certain thing is that Muammar Gaddafi succeeded in eliminating not only the social fabric of the country but its political life as well. He even destroyed education and all that has to do with the establishment of institutions in a viable state. It seems that Gaddafi achieved what he aspired to, an elimination of any hope for a state in Libya after he passes away. For Tunisia, it is different. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was not as bad as Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad or Hosni Mubarak. His main problem was turning Tunisia, from a state, to the neighbourhood run by the official station. Tunisia, under Ben Ali, became a police state in which junior staff working for the presidency were only good at saying yes. The question now is can those who have inherited Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali - and then those who will inherit Bashar al-Assad - build modern states without political dullness? Or will this political dullness continue under the rule of Muslim Brotherhood and even evolve into a cultural one as well? We are all afraid that the legacy of the big four are too big to be replaced in a few years.   Egypt abbreviates the crisis of the Arab revolutions through very simple questions linked to establishing a significant modern state, regardless of whether it has oil wealth or not. Among the questions to be raised in the long term include: What is the future of Egyptian cinema and theatre? Will we ever see a new Egyptian artist? Or will we spend the coming years yearning for a past we will never be able to restore? --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.