Libya needs development path suited to its specific conditions 

By Zhong Sheng (People's Daily)

17:03, August 30, 2011

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

As the Libya crisis is entering its final stage, people are paying more attention to the future development path of Libya while showing concern for the country's sensitive issues in the transition of power. 

Certain Western people view the Libyan civil war as a part of the Arab Spring, but it should be noted that no spring lasts forever. Libya may directly enter "winter season" after the "spring," and its future cannot be accurately predicted. This uncertainty comes from a real challenge facing most turbulent West Asian and North African countries: finding a development path suited to their own specific conditions. 

Development is a fundamental characteristic of the current times, and it is particularly manifested in West Asia and North Africa. It is worrying that the wave of unrest may lead to the resurgence of extremism in the region and provoke tribal conflicts. However, it is more important to find a practical development path that can meet the demands of the people, especially the young people, in the region. 

It is not easy to find a right development path. Along with the expansion of economic globalization, some countries are developing, some countries are stagnant, and some countries are regressing. The difference lies in whether they have taken a development path suited to their own conditions. At present, the top priority for certain West Asian and North African countries is to establish a suitable political system, and they cannot and should not simply copy Western systems. 

The West has never given up its scheme of dominating the development directions of West Asia and North Africa. The dominance is connected with economic interests naturally. Though the smoke of gunpowder has not fully dispersed in Libya, Western oil companies' fights for the oil have already started. 

Meanwhile, it should also be seen that the West is deliberately spreading its political ideas and directly interfering with the political system reconstructions of the countries of these regions. Some scholars believe that the changes that have appeared in West Asia and North Africa are the inevitable results of the West's geopolitics. In fact, they are more representative of the inertia of the West's long-term dominance in the global political and economic order. 

For many years, the power of the West not only could be reflected in the area of politics but also could be reflected in of area of ideas. Therefore, a lot of Western-style things have become universal and consequent, especially in the so-called "democratic system" area. 

Since the tenth anniversary of 9/11 is about to come, discussing the political system reconstructions of West Asia and North Africa has practical significance. During the last 10 years, many countries of the world have carried out political reforms, some of which were pushed forward by external forces, some were results of internal revolutions, and some were carried out under the combined pressure of both internal and external forces. 

Currently, the failed cases still outnumber the successful cases, and one of the reasons is that many countries, under the strong influence of the West, not only took the Western political ideas as their guidelines but also took the Western-style "democratic system" as the ultimate goal of their revolutions. Under this condition, it will be very hard for a country to find a development road that fits its national conditions or try to establish a political system that fits its cultures and traditions. 

History shows that political systems are closely associated with cultural traditions, and a specific political system is just the product of a specific type of cultural soil. Artificial tree transplants cannot be achieved without the changes in either soil conditions or tree seeds. 

Any type of culture cannot be invariable amid the economic globalization. The lifestyles of mankind are changing, with which culture will unstoppably evolve to keep up. If a country or nation can follow the trend of the times and adjust itself in a timely manner, it can gain more dynamics and keep up with the development of the times. Those who refuse to change will run into trouble and will likely be marginalized by the raging torrent of the globalization. However, simply abandoning their own culture and blindly imitating that of others cannot achieve cultural evolution. 

Countries in West Asia and North Africa are at the critical period of development. It is urgent for them to design their political systems according to their realities, try their best to achieve national reconciliation and make the transition from unrest to development as soon as possible. The failure to do so will likely lead to a long-term unstable situation, the typical examples of which are Afghanistan and Iraq.

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