From Kenya to Iraq, the prevalence of tribalism is a symptom of the destruction of modern state structures, weakened or absent democratic institutions, and manipulation by local and external forces.
The destruction of the modern state in Iraq, after years of a punitive blockade and an American invasion and occupation, has propelled tribalism as substitute for a coherent state. It is true that the executed President Saddam Hussein did use tribalism as an instrument, but both the British in the South and the Americans in the center of Iraq have also pursued the old colonial strategy of creating tribal clientele for the occupation.
In Kenya, where tribalism is deeply rooted and was not diminished by the modern state, disillusionment with elections fraud and with Mwai Kibaki (a man who promoted himself as the people's champion) have triggered a regression to tribal fault lines.
In Jordan, the state issued special electoral laws to undercut the power of political parties and to foster tribal affiliations to undercut the opposition. In fact, the manifestation of modern "democracy" is based on institutionalizing tribalism, ethnic differences and sectarianism --a crime a committed by both Western occupying powers and national leaders.
In Iraq, the U.S. has entrenched sectarian and tribal divisions by siding with the Shia for four years, then bombing and co-opting the Sunni tribes.
On a global level, the so called "war on terror" is embedded in tribalism of a different form. The subtext for the "war on terror" is “us against them,” which evokes chauvinist, nationalist, racial and religious prejudices.
"Free market globalization" has not replaced tribalism with modern institutions. In fact it has only built more walls, figuratively and materially speaking, as the haves became more aggressive in exploiting and excluding the have-nots. NAFTA did not lead to more affluence for the majority of people south of the border.
In Pakistan, the reaction to Benazir Bhutto's assassination was not solely that of anger and outrage at a dictatorship. It also unveiled the prevalent power of fundamentalism and tribalism over party affiliation. Bhutto’s son and husband were selected to succeed her in the perfect tribal tradition that manifests itself in modern dynasties.
Pakistan is not an exception but part of a trend that is defying modernity in the twenty-first century. Political and economic leaders seem to fear political parties more than tribal power at the expense of tens of thousands of lives.
There seems to be a belief among the ruling powers that tribalism is more easily controlled than political movements are.
In the Arab World, tribalism is becoming a real force against the Islamic movement. But Arab leaders, many backed by Washington, are creating a new force that carries the seeds of a blowback. The U.S. funding of Sunni militias in Iraq to fight both al-Qaeda and the resistance is the most dangerous game Washington has ever experimented with in unleashing tribal forces. At the moment, Iraqis are killing Iraqis. But some of these armed young men, drawn from al-Qaeda and are lured to these militias by money and arms, may turn their guns elsewhere once they realize that the occupation of their country continues.
Washington and the rest of the world are paying for the Cold War-era strategy of fomenting an extremist form of an Islamic movement. Now it is resorting to fueling tribalism, a ploy that former British colonialists, local Arabs and African leaders have tried for decades.
It is scary to think that while the world is talking democracy, global and national leaders are fomenting tribalism - all for the sake of grabbing power.
Please e-mail PostGlobal if you'd like to receive an email notification when PostGlobal sends out a new question.
