POLICY

Lesson from Japan for the region countries, Stability is the safe way to Democracy

January 20, 2016

Tokyo:Marwa Mohamed Ibrahim

Respecting countries sovereignty and supporting the stability of nations to achieve the democracy that the people dreamt of, are the basic principles which shape the Egyptian-Japanese relations.

Facing the pressure of the West to impose their vision of democracy on Egypt, the sound of Japan came to recognize the independence and uniqueness of Egyptian nature, calling for granting the state the right opportunity to absorb the idea of democracy in line with the nature of its people, political and economic conditions in order to preserve security and stability in the country.

In the middle of all this blood, pain, scattering (Diaspora), victims that spread in middle east during the current era, and after falling as a victim of the spring that quickly turned into a harsh winter, the Japanese side believes that supporting the region for restoring its political and economic stability, is the highest priority for the time being, rather than political irrational dictates, which the West seeks from time to time to impose on the region.

Japan may be one of the most important countries that considered the support of the refugees, victims and the role of humanitarian, is the most important role at this stage of history of the Middle East, especially in light of the unfortunate developments of the events troubling the region since the outbreak of the Arab Spring waves, starting from Iraq and even to provide material support to countries facing crisis of refugees’ influx.

The last support goes to countries that suffer from Arab Spring disorders consequences, and this is exactly the situation in Egypt.

The Middle East is the main source of energy for Japan and Egypt is the most important and the largest country in the region, and stability of Egypt means of course the stability of the whole region, specially the Gulf states, and any disturbances will give non optimistic indicators for the future of the region and the Arab world, and Accordingly will impact directly on the first energy source for Japan.

Perhaps Mr. Shinzo Abe the current Japanese Prime Minister is the most Japanese leaders who have focused their attention on the Middle East, both to remedy the consequences of the Arab Spring and to deal indirectly and differently with the terroristic organization of "DAASH", which suspiciously succeeded in expanding in the entire region.
In January 2015 Mr. Abe gave a speech from Cairo, which emphasized his philosophy in cooperation with the Middle East, also He announced the allocation of an additional $ 200 million to face "DAASH", not to support the military alliance, but to support the refugees and support humanitarian organizations, and in spite of the execution of two Japanese citizens within a few days after this letter, Tokyo was keen to emphasize that its policies in facing terrorism will not change, and that they will adhere to the peaceful approach regardless this incident that bloodied the hearts of the Japanese.

In confirm on the principle of Japan to respect the sovereignty of countries over their territory, the Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that it can help rebuild the state, but cannot intervene to change the regime in any country; this is an internal affair.

Tokyo confirms that Egypt under the leadership of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi is a sovereign state and must be respected, and that the reports on human rights which are reported from time to time are an internal affair and cannot interfere in it.

Japan also expresses its appreciation for the efforts of the current government to support the stability and reform of the situation in Egypt, which it will continue to support it economically, because it will benefit the future of the region as a whole, stressing that stability is the priority before achieving democracy.

Instability makes many communities as an easy prey for DAIESH terrorist thought; also the economic difficulties have had a significant role in this regard which cannot be ignored.

However, all of this does not deny that the turmoil in Egypt from time to time, is of concern to the Japanese government, which fears for the safety and security of Japanese companies operating in Egypt.

On the Japanese vision of democracy, Tokyo confirmed that no state can impose its vision on other country, but each country has to accommodate democracy commensurate with its nature.

Japan rejects the false European – American outlook for the Arab Spring, noting that stability is the real solution to the crises in the Middle East and the way to achieve security and create investment, which usually run away from conflicted zones.

At the level of the Japanese experience in the application of democracy, history confirms that Japan took more than 100 years to accept democracy and adjusted it to fit with the Japanese thought, and not for a year or two, the matter took decades, but in a peaceful way, which should be applied to the Middle East seeking also to democracy, this is without dictating any own vision of democracy by any state. Democracy is important, but it takes time and peoples must be aware of its importance to be accepted. So, Japan seeks to support these countries so that they can understand what is happening.

In terms of the war on terrorism, Japan seems committed to peaceful policy in the face of Daeish terrorism, most of Japanese do not support the idea of getting involved directly in the war in the Middle East, but the execution of Japanese citizens in the beginning of this year, has led many to believe the need to participate some way in the face of Daeish terrorism, but through economic cooperation with countries facing a direct threat from extremist groups not military.
As for other countries such as Libya and the like, Japan is still considering to provide direct support to these countries in the future.

The current war on terrorism, and crises that followed the Arab Spring, have played a major role in confirming the depth of Egyptian relations - in Japanese.

At a time when political and social factions differ about right and wrong, Japan came to confirm that Egypt is on the right path towards a politically and economically stable future.

*Originally published on Al-Ahram on Sep. 13th, 2015. The original article is in Arabic.

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