In Tunisia and Egypt, the popular uprisings of 2011 have won impressive victories, but as the Carnegie Endowment reported, while names have changed, the regimes remain: “A change in ruling elites and system of governance is still a distant goal.” The report discusses internal barriers to democracy, but ignores the external ones, which as always are significant. The United States and its Western allies are sure to do whatever they can to prevent authentic democracy in the Arab world. To understand why, it is only necessary to look at the studies of Arab opinion conducted by U.S. polling agencies. Though barely reported, they are certainly known to planners. They reveal that by overwhelming majorities, Arabs regard the United States and Israel as the major threats they face: the United States is so regarded by 90 percent of Egyptians and by over 75 percent of the inhabitants of the region generally. By way of contrast, 10 percent of Arabs regard Iran as a threat. Opposition to U.S. policy is so strong that a majority believes security would be improved if Iran had nuclear weapons—in Egypt, 80 percent. Other figures are similar. If public opinion were to influence policy, the United States not only would not control the region but would be expelled from it, along with its allies, undermining fundamental principles of global dominance.
Noam Chomsky, Who Rules the World?, Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & C. New York, 2016
