By Rami G. Khouri

The resurgence of protests and clashes with police in Cairo and other Egyptian cities this week is more significant than the mass rallies that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak nine months ago. That’s because this week’s events touch on the heart of the problem of the mediocrity of the modern Arab world and its tattered states: the exaggerated role of the military in public life.

The striking differences between the January-February demonstrations and this week’s events are important to grasp for understanding what is happening in Egypt and the Arab world. The January-February demonstrations were largely non-ideological and lacked sharp political focus, reflecting as they did a widespread demand to get rid of the Mubarak regime and allow Egyptians to practice freely their rights as citizens and human beings. Today’s protests are very different, because they have a sharp ideological focus that actually demands policy changes, namely the military’s turning over power to legitimate civilian authorities.

The fate of this ideological battle between men armed with guns and citizens who have as their weapon an ability to bestow the legitimacy emanating from the consent of the governed resonates throughout the Arab world, where similar issues are being debated and resolved in a variety of ways. The contrast between the situations in Tunisia and Egypt this month is testimony to the fact that bad things happen to a country when the armed forces try to dominate the governance system. Conversely, good things happen when security agencies do their job of protecting security and leave the business of governance to the elected state institutions.

This military-to-civilian transition is not an easy one to make, but it is absolutely crucial if Arab countries are to have any hope of living and developing in normal conditions. The transition is all the more difficult in some cases, like Egypt’s, where the military has been in power without interruption since the 1952 revolution.

It should be no surprise that the first major revolts this year occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria – countries where individuals or families have held power for decades. In Jordan, mild protests since spring have publicly called on the intelligence department to stay out of people’s daily lives and the business of government. Throughout the Arab world, governance has remained erratic or mediocre, corruption has spread, and national potential has remained largely unattained because of the severe distortions resulting from soldiers administering state and society.

Despite their fine qualities, soldiers are not trained, equipped or qualified to run countries, and the modern Arab world is testament to their collective failures. More important, they do not have a mandate from citizens to run their countries. Egypt and Tunisia revealed that citizens respect their armed forces and want them to play a role in the transition toward democratic governance. The process is working smoothly in Tunisia because the military accepts the limits to its role; it is messy in Egypt because the military seems intent on maintaining a strong grip on public affairs and order.

This ideological struggle between military and civilian rule is playing out in the streets of Egypt because this is the only option available to Egyptians, who are increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of the transition from military to civilian rule. There are two critical issues that will define how serious are the transitions to democratic governance in the Arab world. One is civilian oversight of military and security institutions; the other is civilian oversight of national budgets and expenditures. Neither of those things has happened fully, but both remain firmly on the transformative agenda that still drives the populist revolts.

The events in Egypt continue to fill me with hope – despite the thousands of brave people who continue to die for their freedom in the region – because they reveal the true quality and depth of the values that ordinary people feel in their hearts, and want to see reflected in their governments and public life.

The most important value is the principle of the consent of the governed. Arab generals and colonels will have to learn this, or they will face the same fate as some ex-Arab leaders who are now dead, exiled or on trial because they thought guns could rule over all else in life.

Rami G. Khouri is published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR.