Blog #5 - Changes of Power.

     Power is an important topic in the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the conflicts, riots or "revolutions" in this area are caused by people wanting power to be more fair and equitable. For this reason, emirs abuse the power that has been conferred to them, often hurting the population or at least not looking for the good of all, but only searching for their own wealth. For this, democracy isn't an option for these Arabian governors. Although people get put in jail or killed for asking for a democratic system, they maintain a constant fight for this. A clear example is Yemen. Here, I will focus on how this two nation is experiencing a power transition, and which conflicts the leader Abed Masour may face. 

     First of them is Yemen. In February, they freed themselves from a 33 year dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh. On February, the vice-president Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi took his place. This situation is similar to the Weimar Republic story, since both goverments dealt with the fact of having to "rebuild" a country, that has recently been involved in many conflicts. One of the questions that the lecture gives, and I think it is important for Yemen to answer, is "Can terrorism be succesfully fought while maintaining broad civil liberties?" This nation should focus on answering this question because the Arabian Peninsula is well known for its active terrorism activities. Therefore Mansour should be thinking of how to control terrorism without taking away civil liberties. This task will be hard to solve, due to the high amount of terrorist activity that takes place on Yemen and also because the new government is settling, therefore any decision may affect people's support.

     Another question the text mentions is "What role should religious leaders play in democracy?" This is another question that Yemen's president should consider, because the Arabian population is also well known for their devote passion for religious activities and beliefs. Many of the actions they take are based in  spirituality. Religious leaders in Yemen should advise people to spread the idea of union in order to stabilize the country's situation. This question can be related to this other one: ""Could the leaders of the Republic have utilized nationalism and patriotism for positive democratic purposes and not yielded these powerful forces to anti-democratic elements?" Mansour should use people's beliefs and hope for stability to get their complete confidence and support in any decision he should make.

     To conclude, the world is going through many changes, especially in how nations are ruled. The Arabian Peninsula has had many riots due to their political system; most of the countries had arrested people for this, but others (like Yemen) have achieved the replacement of their leader, and are looking forward for a better, stabilized place to live. It is going to be hard, but if government can find the solutions to the questions previously mentioned, they'll be able to transform to a good, healthy country.