Why Al Tahrir Square in Damascus Remains Empty?

Democracy is like a dish of Spaghetti Napolitana: it’s messy and goes in unpredictable directions. This is especially true about the Middle East region. The difficulty of reaching a consensus government after a number of autocratic regimes have been recently toppled illustrate that democracy is by no means a natural smooth process. A long history of colonialism followed by despotic regimes, in addition to sectarian divisions and high levels of unemployment, to name but a few factors, are among the challenges facing democracy in this region.

Syrians are intuitively aware of this. Add the fact that the country still lives a recent memory of a severely-crashed attempted coup in the city of Hama in 1982 resulting in the death of thousands, then it comes as no surprise that many are reluctant to follow the lead of their Arab brethren. In spite of a small demonstration that sprouted in front of the Ministry of Interior in Damascus a couple of days ago, it is unlikely that the majority of the people will support an upheaval against the current government. An English proverb says it best: better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

(Picture: Al Tahrir Square, Damascus)