Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy

by Andrew C. McCarthy

The first fundamental truth about the "Arab Spring" is that there never was one. The salient fact of the Middle East, the only one, is Islam. The Islam that shapes the Middle East inculcates in Muslims the self-perception that they are members of a civilization implacably hostile to the West. The United States is a competitor to be overcome, not the herald of a culture to be embraced.

Is this self-perception based on objective truth? Does it reflect an accurate construction of Islam? It is over these questions that American officials and Western intellectuals obsess. Yet the questions are irrelevant. This is not a matter of right or wrong, of some posture or policy whose subtle tweaking or outright reversal would change the facts on the ground. This is simply, starkly, the way it is.

Every human heart does not yearn for freedom. In the Islam of the Middle East, "freedom" means something very nearly the opposite of what the concept connotes to Westerners – it is the freedom that lies in total submission to Allah and His law. That law, sharia, is diametrically opposed to core components of freedom as understood in the West – beginning with the very idea that man is free to make law for himself, irrespective of what Allah has ordained. It is thus delusional to believe, as the West's Arab Spring fable insists, that the region teems with Jamal al-Madisons holding aloft the lamp of liberty. Do such revolutionary reformers exist? Of course they do . . . but in numbers barely enough to weave a fictional cover story. When push came to shove – and worse – the reformers were overwhelmed, swept away by a tide of Islamic supremacism, the dynamic, consequential mass movement that beckons endless winter.

That is the real story of the Arab Spring – that, and the Pandora's Box that opens when an American administration aligns with that movement, whose stated goal is to destroy America.

Genres: Islam, Middle East, Nonfiction, History

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2012

Reviews

[Ben Denison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. McCarthy basically lays out the path some of these Arab Spring countries have used "democratic" tools to gain power and then quickly dismantle and/or weaken all secular institutions to ensure their power and solidify their power base.

Turkey and Egypt are the main subjects, but a fascinating read today as Erdegon/Turkish parliament just declared a state of emergency and suspending non-muslims' rights, and now using the recent coup attempt to clean house.

Also fascinating and sad to see how the US Government/Progressive Left has encouraged these Islamist governments and turned a blind eye to the march towards sharia and the dissolution of rights for minorities.

Check it out. Great book.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCarthy's explanations of what is currently going on in Turkey and Egypt were insightful and (for me) an eye opener. Turkey, after decades of secular government, has gradually returned to a more Islamist style government. Egypt, after it's dramatic "Arab Spring" is following the same path, only more quickly. Both are heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood.

He asks the very important question of Why are we (USA) supporting these groups? Should we support democracy merely for the sake of democracy? Are elections enough to make a Democracy? Another surprise was the role of the military in these nations. Unlike America where the military is entirely under civilian control, over there the military is a much more independent force. It has been (until recently) a secularizing force standing up against the tide of Islamism.

On the downside, the book is encumbered by right-wing rhetoric. It is sometimes repetitive. The eBook has many links to other articles but most of these were written by McCarthy. I would have appreciated more links to a wider variety of sources. McCarthy should stick with the facts, and the frightening implications of these facts.

I highly recommend pushing through the rhetoric to understand the history and the implications of the current trends in the Middle East, especially Egypt and Turkey. Recent events (Morsi's power grab in Egypt for instance) are confirming McCarthy's analysis and revealing the lie behind the "Arab Spring".

[Oliver · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some really intriguing ideas here, but they're obscured by needless right-wing snark and innuendoes of conspiracy. If the author could write to a wider audience, he could accomplish something really useful.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew C McCarthy is an experienced US Federal Prosecutor who has successfully tried and convicted Islamic terrorists connected with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Through his work he has become one the foremost authorities on terrorism and Islamic extremism and has written several books on the topic. Knowing that is what attracted me to this book and I have already read a few of his shorter ones and queued up more of his books to read. In Spring Fever: The Illusion of Islamic Democracy he explains that because of Islam's strict sharia laws, criticism of any kind of Islam, Mohammed, Allah, etc (what we consider free speech) is forbidden and usually punishable by death. This makes free speech and Islam incompatible. He explains how Islamists will use deception and creative meanings for words like freedom and democracy to fool Western leaders into thinking they are agreeing with them. They will even have words in their western-influenced constitution about freedom of speech and religion, women's rights, etc., to pacify the west but they basically ignore them and practice strict sharia law. Instead of separation of church and state they want the church and state as the same entity under Islam. Fascinating book and the author, being a lawyer, makes many other interesting points that should concern all of us. The author exposes what many of us suspect and shows why the so-called "moderate" muslim leaders are generally not to be trusted. And also provides a look into how they maneuver their way into a government takeover similar to how Hitler gained power in Germany. Great read for anyone who is interested in where the middle east is headed and why we should be concerned.

[Paulfrancis O'sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Postmortem

Now that elected government in Tunisia has failed, one can now see Andrew McCarthy’s explanation: the leading figures in several pro-Muslim parties wanted to impose Islam more than they wanted freely elected governments. Of even greater interest now is McCarthy’s analysis of Erdogan’s government in Turkey, which is still going. Will there be any movement toward what Westerners would think of as democracy? For now, the Arab Spring has disappointed Western enthusiasts, and, most importantly, those who must again live under governments they can’t and won’t elect.