How to start a revolution? - a 10 step guide inspired by Egypt and Tunisia

I attended the other day a panel discussion (recorded streaming) at the Swedish Institute organised by a civil society think tank called Sektor 3. The debate was on “How to start a revolution” in relation to what is happening now in the Arab world. I decided to blog all the points that the “experts” missed.

The 10 essential ingredients of starting a revolution (inspired by Egypt and Tunisia):

1 – Generation gap: The Arab world’s population is undergoing a big generational shift. More than 60% of the population are under the age of 25. They are getting connected; internet and mobile penetration growth is faster in this region than any other place in the world.

2- General frustration: Power structures in the Arab world today are a by product of colonialization, who were fed from both sides during the Cold War, and continued to enjoy undeserved support during the “terrorism era,” aka the past 10 years. Young people in the Arab world have felt the betrayal by their leaders and the world at large since they were born and throughout their upbringing. The fact remains that leaders in the Arab world cannot deliver anymore what they are paid to – they cannot secure international interests in the region, and they cannot deliver for local ambitions. Everyone is frustrated with the power structures.

3- Creativity: Opposition in the Arab world is mostly tight knitted to the power structures – at least in its bureaucratic form. They can push papers around, reuse old banners and slogans that do not fit for a 21 century society. To start a revolution, we have to look outside the current opposition formats in the Arab world, and seek to reform the opposition just as much as the power structures. New ideas are therefore needed. Clusters of unorganised, but networking anti-establishment activists have succeeded in driving the revolution in Egypt and Tunisia. The establishment will now try to turn them into bureaucrats – as Theodore Rozsak suggests in his book, and my revolutionary bible: “The making of a counter-culture: reflections on the technocratic society.”

4- Thinking beyond borders: As is the case with other ingredients – nations in the Arab world are a by-product of colonization. What is Jordanian civilization, or Libyan or Iraqi? Apart from Egypt and possibly Iran, the rest of the regions civilization history has been going through phases of unity and isolation. Arab young people see that there’s a need to reconnect with other Arabs outside their own region, and sometimes, when internet goes down, with others abroad. We have to think outside our borders. South Koreans just balloons to North Korea carrying flyers about the news from Egypt.

 

5- Remember Ghandi: No violence (unless in self defence). First they will ignore you, then laugh at you, and then they will fight you, then you will win (or they will join you)…. Enough public mobilisation of peaceful demonstrators can outtake any fascist dictator guard. Beware of the Army though, the Army is the Joker in this game, they are guilty until proven innocent.

6 – Mobilize: mobilize, mobilize: Social networking is beyond twitter and facebook; it is beyond all mass media. It takes place across all society structures: in the family, at the work place, in educational institutions, in the neighbourhood, down the street. Use face to face interaction; do not just depend on electronic media, mobile phones, etc.

7- Belief. Believe in a better world – a world of equal opportunities for young, old, men, women, across societal classes. We’re all brothers and sisters, and we all deserve a chance to be equal stakeholders in managing our lives, in owning our minds and bodies.

8- Dress properly: When going to a demonstration, wear running shoes if you have them. Take a scarf to cover your mouth and nose to minimize the effects of tear gas. Carry water, something to eat, and warm clothes if you have to spend the night outside. Do not worry about your looks; you look pretty hot when you’re leading a revolution.

9- Stick together. Help your fellow brothers and sisters with all you can. Build road blocks together, protect one another, and carry each other to safety. Doctors can nurse the wounded, for example. Muslim, Christian, secular, gay, straight, queer, young, old, poor, rich, all that doesn’t matter, we’re creating a world for all of us together, and all are of the same worth.

10 – The PR Campaign: Egyptians and Tunisians have been excellent in driving an unorganised PR campaign and managed to win the hearts and the minds of the world, and inspire people to stand up for their own even outside the region: from Gabon to Albania, Kazakhstan to Italy. The way to do this is to post online: make songs, put out videos of what happens on the street, twitter, start facebook campaigns, blog about it, and write to the media making yourself available for interviews and correcting media mistakes when they take place. Apologise for the bad actions of a few that could  disturb the good image your protest is getting abroad.