Why Arab Leaders Do Not Write Memoirs

Arab leaders do not write memoirs. Admittedly the Arab world has had few leaders, and that term is used objectively, in modern history. Morocco's been under the reign of King Hassan II and his successor son, Egypt has seen one president, Mubarak, for the last 30years, Gaddaffi in Libya has served even longer, Syria has followed Moroccan dynastic rule from father-to-son but in republican grab, Jordan ditto but back to monarchical form, and, of course, tiny Tunisia had had only two president since its independence: an arrangement that finally forced the Arab world's first popular revolution and ongoing transition to liberal democracy.

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Albeit it is short on heads of state in comparison to other nations in the same decades (America has had five presidents since 1981 for Egypt's one), the region is even more bereft of presidential memoirs. Western leaders eagerly take to publishing their memoirs in order to impress upon history a more favorable reception of their bequest. Bush had already published his memoirs, Clinton as well, and Obama will likely follow.

But Arab leaders are almost unanimous in their lack of any recounting. Why? The Lebanese-American scholar As'ad AbuKhalil explains:

Arab leaders (except the presidents of Lebanon) don't write memoirs: they either get killed, or they live under the assumption that they are immortal, so they never to sit down and write.

I thought about this as I was reading about the demonstrations in Egypt's against their aging 82-year tyrant and his son-in-waiting Gamal Mubarak. That is the mentality of Arab dictators: they do not believe that their power should ever end. So they stay until their last day if they can help it and do not write. Hence no memoirs unlike the proper course of events in democracies.

Arabs leaders have only one idea: to remain in power. An Arab dictator has never exhibited sacrifice in the name of his people and nation.

Mubarak is Egypt is today a prime case. Here is a 82-year old president who has been in office for 30 years and in the face of public protest if he had any sense of national purpose he would speak frankly to his people and announce a transition toward democracy when his term ends in September. But he remains obstinate and dismissive, hoping to cling to power until his last breath as he himself once put it.

Instead of allowing for the unrest to calm down, which would be the national interest, and heed the aspirations of his people, these leaders [sic] show contempt for their people and think they can just impose their will and their sons on them. They believe that the country should be run solely in the interest of them and their cadre.

They only way for them is to flee in humiliation like Tunisia's Ben Ali. Such contemptibly selfish tyrants will never gracefully rescind power and allow for democracy. They must be met with unceasing people power until the revolution is successful.