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15 May, 2013

Renaming the ‘Arab Spring’ cannot hide American prejudice

(People's Daily Online)

May 11, 2013 – With war scale expanding, death toll increasing, a view that Syrian war has gone to the critical point is spreading. When the attention was concentrated on the changing war situation, some people may have forgotten the tragedy was regard as the extension of the “Arab Spring” at the very beginning. The gunfire in Damascus has let the difficult situation in Tunisia, Libya or Egypt – the main fields of the “Arab Spring” – fade out of people’s sights.

When the blind action mood gives way to rational thinking, the evolution process of the “Arab Spring” will become clear, and the grasp of the war trend will be more accurate. U.S. ideological circle starts to consider renaming the once popular “Arab Spring”, making people see the sign of returning to reality.

There are two considerations for renaming the “Arab Spring”: First, the storm-like “revolution” is not the “spring” that breeds hopes. These countries are still in unrest and their economies are sluggish. Second, it is not an easy thing to rebuild the order. Losing the direction for development means chaos of larger scale.

An Arab website has indicated in an article that the name “Arab Spring” for the turmoil in West Asia and North Africa shows the United States tries to control the “campaign” and lead it to the American-style democracy. The impulse rooted in ideological prejudice has made it difficult for Western countries to behave themselves. Using social media and UN resolution to overthrow state power of sovereign countries or choosing side in a country’s civil war are all impertinency and indulgence under the Saviour mentality.

The United States and Western countries can proceed or step back freely in changing the name of the Arab Spring. But North Africa and West Asia cannot get the strength to turn the tide, and the people killed in the war just died meaninglessly.

The great power possesses extraordinary strength. If used properly, it can benefit the world. But once it loses the direction, it will cause big problems or even disasters. The disastrous cost of the Afghan War, Iraq War, the turmoil in West Asia, North Africa and Syria reminds people that turning blind eyes to the norms governing international relationship is intolerable.

Now the big powers should lay down pride and prejudice, support the countries in the regions to choose political system and development mode independently and provide help for solving political crisis. Only by this way, can the embarrassing question such as renaming matter be avoided.

Edited and translated by Ma Xi, People’s Daily Online

Read the Chinese version: “更名”难掩美式偏见

Source: People’s Daily