ANOTHER LOOK AT EVENTS IN THE ARAB COUNTRIES N. Z. FAKHRUTDINOVA Institute of Africa, Russian Academy of Sciences Key words: democratic freedoms, Islam, political culture, civil society The Arabs have a wonderful proverb: the bush bloomed, but spring did not come. It is used in cases when something that has long been dreamed of and hoped for is not being realized. The so-called "Arab Spring", which was supposed to raise the economy and the standard of living of Arabs, did not bring the expected results. To understand this,it is necessary, in my opinion, to focus on the characteristics of the political culture of the Arabs. It is well known that the direct organizer and one of the most active participants of the "revolutions", "days of anger", marches for change and democracy, as the series of overthrows of Arab heads of state is called in the world press, was the "Internet youth". However, the result of her triumph was taken advantage of everywhere by other forces. It is not without reason that the term "stolen revolution"is increasingly used in the political lexicon of the Arabs. Some observers predicted the decline of political Islam, noted "an important trend - the decline of its role", the rejection of" Arab revolutions " from clerical ideas.1 However, in Egypt, in Libya, and in the most secular of the Arab countries, Tunisia, there is a revival of Islamic parties and movements and even their coming to power. "FAKE DEMOCRACIES" - NEW DEMOCRACIES? In an interview with ITAR-TASS, retired General Michel Aoun*, who headed the new parliamentary majority in Lebanon in January 2011, noted that events in the Middle East are natural and will not lead to serious destabilization. In his opinion, there is a normal process of maturation of civil societies. The masses of the people who have taken the stage will sweep away the "fake democracies" that will be replaced by elected governments. M. Aoun explained the phenomenon of Islamic movements as "a property of human nature": ... Read more