USA Today: The case against an 'Arab Mandela'

"The second problem with the Arab Mandela logic advanced by Friedman, et al, is that it is too parsimonious. It is like saying that — barring a Nelson-Mandela-like figure, who only comes along maybe once every 100 years — democracy is doomed to fail. It assumes that for democratic institutions to work in divided societies, you need a Nobel Peace Prize winner in office. But how does one explain all the post-Soviet states that successfully transitioned to democracy without a Lech Walesa or Vaclav Havel at the helm? (Can anyone remember the name of Slovenia’s first democratic leader? Janez Drnovsek.) This line of reasoning is naive, to the point of being paternalistic and elitist. What the Arab region needs is not so much inspirational leaders but rather capable, competent and non-corrupt technocrats to build institutions and do the exceedingly mundane stuff that is real nation-building." Lionel Beehner

The case against an 'Arab Mandela'