Hernando De Soto

What the Arab world really wants

Middle East protest has its roots not in Islam but in frustrated enterprise

Photo by Ed Giles/Getty Images 
issue 13 July 2013

Two years ago, the West thought it recognised what was happening in the Arab world: people wanted democracy, and were having revolutions to make that point. Now, recent events in Egypt have left many open-mouthed. Why should the generals be welcomed back? Why should the same crowds who gathered in Tahrir Square to protest against the old regime reconvene to cheer the deposing of their elected president? Could it be that the Arab Spring was about something else entirely?

I believe so.

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