By Gary Kent

The Arab Spring inspires great hope that a richly civilised and populous part of the world can embrace democracy and enrich the international community. There are also fears in different parts of a vast range of countries that it will be crushed or take an authoritarian route.

The Arab Spring could be one of the defining moments of the 21st century. Historically, its peoples have not greatly benefited from vast natural wealth but feel increasingly sidelined. Unresponsive elites skim off the wealth, protect themselves with repressive security apparatuses, fail to meet the needs of a growing and restless youth, undervalue and repress women them while exploiting chauvinist and antisemitic postures that make a sustainable peace very difficult.

The liberations that have taken place and may yet include countries such as Syria and Iran can change all that and begin to develop democratic politics. It won’t necessarily follow the Westminster model although there is scope for such models being emulated in part

This requires the active sharing of knowledge between elected representatives from countries outside the region, as well as assistance from a whole range of independent bodies that can help nurture the thriving civil society that brings life to any democracy.

One priority for western labour movements should be support for trade unions which can help unite workers of all creeds and increase the role of women at work and in politics.

Much of such work will be new to many parts of the Middle East and, in addition to external help, they can learn valuable lessons from places which have been seeking to modernise and democratise for longer.

One such place, which is neither Arab or Iranian but which is at the heart of the region, is the relatively tiny region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

After decades of gross suffering, including genocide at the hands of Saddam Hussein, Kurdistan liberated itself in 1991 with the help of various countries including the UK which ensured that Saddam couldn’t return to finish the job he started of eliminating the Kurds – most graphically seen by the bombardment with chemical weapons at Halabja in 1988.

Basic infrastructure and services needed to be build from scratch and are now superior to the rest of Iraq. There is, for instance, almost continuous electricity and a boom in construction and retailing.

They have also used this time to build a democracy. The last parliamentary and presidential elections were deemed free and fair by international observers. There is a larger and active opposition, which is rare in the Middle East. Civil society, independent media have mushroomed. Respect for human rights including women’s rights and minority rights is a major priority. Female genital mutilation is too common but has been outlawed though cultural change will take longer. Christians fleeing from the rest of Iraq have been made very welcome.

Many universities have been opened and there is a major emphasis on education provision for all, with the majority of government-funded postgraduate scholarships being taken up in Britain.

They have had a great measure of success in normalising relations with Turkey but relations with Baghdad, where old centralising habits die hard, ebb and flow.

Kurdistan is not idyllic, of course. They have had to overcome the legacy of Saddam as well as their own bitter civil war. They are also working out how to further reform in areas which prompted violent demonstrations in which several civilians and police officers were sadly killed earlier in the year.

Yet their voluntary embrace of democracy and openness to external influences to catch up after being isolated for so long illustrate that reform is possible despite the heavy hand of a tragic history.

The 2003 intervention lifted the threat of Saddam and is widely seen as a liberation in Iraq. A key question, for which there may not be an absolute answer, is whether this year’s uprisings would have happened If Saddam were still in power.

Iraqi Kurds have great respect for Britain and want Britain to engage with them. They need Britain to support the emerging democracy, and Britain needs Iraq as a strategic ally in the Middle East.

Opportunities for Britain in Kurdistan are vast, the region is enjoying for the first time in living memory an economic boom, and yet British engagement has been very slow, even though it has improved in the last year. European and Middle East countries are reaping the benefits and have not been shy to look for business and contracts in the region.

A democratic Iraq is not a given but requires constant hard work. Britain and Labour should use their influence to support political transition in the Middle East. The potential for Kurdistan, a secular Muslim democracy, being a model for others in the Middle East is therefore a much bigger issue than just the fate of Kurdistan.

Gary Kent is the Administrator of the UK Parliament's All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.


-Progress