How Muslim countries must deal with radicals

It is worth noting that Islamist success in places like Egypt and the Palestinian territories was enhanced mainly by the failure of governments to provide schooling and health services to the needy. But the ability of an opposition movement to provide services to the poor doesn't say much about its ability to deliver once in power. The Shiite network in Iran was effective in managing charitable networks under the Shah. Once in power, however, the clerics failed miserably in managing the economy.

With these fascistic features of "Islamic democracy," no wonder the Islamists resort to bloody means to grab power. And no wonder they fail to deliver when faced with real-world challenges.

As the Islamists gain popularity and threaten democracy throughout the Arab world, lessons from a handful of Muslim countries show that repression isn't the solution.

In Tunisia, a large middle class and secular nongovernmental organizations made sure that there was no reversal of social modernization during the past five decades. They also constituted a buffer against the kind of Islamist violence that rocked its neighbor, Algeria. In Turkey, the electoral vote provided the ruling party with the needed credibility to amend laws regarding the rights of women and minorities, consistent with the membership requirements of the European Union.

And in Malaysia, better economic opportunities as well as a coalition between the predominant political party of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian Chinese Association, and the Malaysian Indian Congress enhanced racial harmony. Hence, the government didn't have to ban Islamists from participating in elections, once it thwarted their appeal.

A new lesson came from the Muslim world's largest country, Indonesia, which shifted recently from being terror-ridden to a role model. About two fifths of local elections in Indonesia have been won by coalitions between moderate religious and secular parties. And in last week's legislative election, the top three parties belong to the secular middle, while Islamists were the main loser and the violent Jemaah Islamiah, which was responsible for the Bali bombings in 2002, has been completely marginalized. Current governments should not oppress Islamists. Rather, they should undermine their appeal and out-compete them in socioeconomic spheres as well as in free elections.

For Washington, and the international community, the lesson is clear: Instead of supporting failed autocracies in the Middle East, resources should be provided to support groups struggling for modernization, secularism, and human rights. These groups are well-placed to carry out much needed educational, social, and economic reforms. That's what Turkey, Tunisia, and Malaysia did on their own, throughout the past five decades, with noticeable success. That's what Arab and Islamic countries should do now with Western help.

Abu Khawla is a human rights activist and writer.

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