‘Any country with democratic limitations could see large popular demos’

TEHRAN, Nov.10 (MNA) -- Any country with no democracy or with serious democratic limitations could become the scene of large popular demonstrations, according to Katrine Barnekow Rasmussen, who is a lecturer in the Middle East Studies Department of the University of Southern Denmark. She made the remarks during an interview in Tehran on October 24. Following are excerpts of the interview: Q: What is your take on the developments taking place in the Arab world? A: I think it’s very interesting, first of all, to see large groups of population expressing their discontent with whatever regime they live under, whether it is in the Arab world or other places in the world. I think it is very interesting that people get to raise questions to their governments as to how the system functions and whether it should be changed, and, in that way, I think it is very very positive to see that those movements have been able to come through with raising questions, and they have resisted the oppression they were put under, and they have managed to stay, firmly stand their ground, and (express) their concerns and demands for the future. Q: How do you see the future of these uprisings? A: These movements are taking place in very different countries, so I think it’s difficult to say that these movements are all moving in the same direction. I’m saying they are going on in very different countries. So I think what can happen in Egypt maybe is not the same as in Libya, and it’s maybe not the same as in Syria. I think these countries have different issues, they are dealing with different difficulties. But I think, for all of them, it is probably going to be interesting to see (what happens) right after such a social movement has succeeded and they have removed maybe the… regime. So there’s a very critical phase where you don’t know if the people can agree on what they want instead because it is always more easy to agree on ‘we don’t like this guy,’ but then once he is removed, it is difficult to agree on what they want instead. So this is one concern. And the other concern might be that people tend to get impatient. They have suppressed their own discontent for so long, and once they are able to say these things freely, they maybe think that change will come right away and all things can be better right away. So in that sense, I think all of these countries are in a very delicate, critical phase. Q: In your opinion, which dictator is the next one who will be deposed? A: I’m not a fortune teller. I think that all countries that have democratic limitations -- of course, all countries to some extent have democratic limitations -– but all of the countries where the democratic system is not there at all or maybe has a lot of limitations, all of those countries are at risk, so to speak, of becoming a scene for such demonstrations. And there are many countries throughout the world that struggle with limited democracies, and I think that the more young people have access to the internet to read about what is going on in other countries, the more difficult it would be for such regimes to control the population, and the more demonstrations will arise. Q: Do you think there is any link between the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement? A: I must say, personally, that I don’t think so because there were movements like the Occupy Wall Street movement before in the West. Like a few years back, there was a huge movement in terms of the global climate like the global climate change, and a few years before that the Attak movement, which in many ways had the same kind of slogans as Occupy Wall Street. I think this movement is related to the financial crisis of the world and not so much to what is going on in the Arab world because I think what those movements are fighting for are very different things. So I don’t think they are actually connected except for the fact that I think seeing many people in the streets protesting about something is always inspiring for others who want to protest about something. So, just as the Arab Spring maybe has been brought about by young Arab people seeing pictures on the news and online of the people protesting in other countries, I think that the fact that the Arab countries are protesting can also inspire others to protest throughout the world. But in terms of specifically what the topics are, I don’t think they are very related. Q: Do you think these protests will achieve their goals? A: They already achieved their goals, many of them, in terms of wanting to remove the regime they were living under. I think that goals of such movements can never be achieved fully for everybody because I don’t think that everybody wants the same thing… There is always a phase of arguing what is precisely to come instead and to negotiate these matters, and there will always be somebody who is more satisfied than others after these negotiations are finished. Q: You mean they have no idea what to replace the dictatorial regimes with? A: I think many of them have an idea what they would like to see instead, but I’m saying I don’t think they all want the same thing. So I don’t think you can say ‘will the protesters be happy?’ because I think they are already happy because they have managed to remove the regime that they were against. But I think some will be happy in the future and some will be less happy depending on what dream they had to replace the system they were against with. Q: What can the U.S. government do to either quell the protests on Wall Street or meet the demands of the protesters? A: I think the problem is that the financial crisis was brought about by some very specific economic irresponsibilities throughout the world. Maybe it started in the U.S. but it turned into a global phenomenon that too many people had lent too much money and they had overspent. I think, in that sense, this Occupy Wall Street movement… I don’t think the politicians can make those people happy because they cannot change what has already happened. But they can listen to this movement and maybe learn that in the future they should not behave this irresponsibly in terms of economy… I think they can try to listen to the protesters and see whether maybe they can reasonably accommodate some of the things, but the protesters are very angry about what has already happened, and that is difficult to change.