http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/benjamin-isakhan/ Dr Benjamin Isakhan is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Comparative Social Research at Deakin University, Australia. His most recent book, The Secret History of Democracy, is available now from Palgrave Macmillan (http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?PID=396727). He can be contacted via his website: http://www.benjaminisakhan.com en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-middle-east-should-not-adopt-western-democracy/ In order for democracy to really take hold in the wake of the recent Arab Revolutions, the people of the region should be careful not to conform to Western ideas of democracy and instead develop their own model, one relevant to their own cultural norms and in tune with their own rich history of democracy. The Arab Revolutions themselves give us insight into what this model might look like. Indeed, recent events are to be admired for the extent to which divergent voices have been heard, legitimate grievances have been aired, and women and minorities have been involved. They are also to be admired because a balance has often been struck between the pragmatic and the ideal, between the secular and the religious, between the desire not just to oust failing tyrants but to replace them with something new, something that could respond to the varying needs of the citizens. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Benjamin Isakhan) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-middle-east-should-not-adopt-western-democracy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-middle-east-should-not-adopt-western-democracy/#item5944 Sun, 29 May 2011 19:45:46 +0000 Benjamin Isakhan | Author bios | The Punch