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Maha Tazi is a graduate in International Relations and Middle Eastern Politics from the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). She is currently working as a Project Consultant in Public Relations and Corporate Communications at APCO Worldwide and teaching part-time as an adjunct instructor in Philosophy at UOWD. Maha has a special interest in world affairs and gender issues. She took a Women Studies course for one year at Sciences Po Paris and worked with several civil society organizations that struggle for the advancement of women’s rights including Association Solidarite Feminine (ASF) in Morocco. [/symple_box]
Dubai, UAE—Lately, amid the recent political developments, we have seen many ‘coalitions of the unwilling’ form, almost re-establishing our faith in humanity and human solidarity.
This year, New Year’s Eve was nearly celebrated with Saudi, Iran, and Israel reaching a first historical ‘agreement’ on a unified front: the threat of ISIS – the black ghost that is terrifying the regional balance of power of the ‘Big Three’.
More recently, in the face of the Yemeni events, we have seen another unlikely alliance form to bring down the already wrecked and torn State by sectarian conflicts – among them the US, Gulf States, Egypt and Turkey.
Who would have believed that Saudi, Iran and Israel would ever come together if it was not for ISIS’ ‘sake’? And who could have predicted any sort of coalition forming between the US, Egypt and Turkey any time soon – especially in regards to other recent political events including the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the demise of the Brotherhood?
It is so unfortunate to see that countries only come together under the feeling threat and the imminence of danger and that solidarity only manifests itself in ‘high emergency situations’.
It is even sadder to witness that such coalitions always form at the expense of others, a third party, or the so called ‘enemy’- and at a very high cost for innocent human lives.
Solidarity should not come with collateral damage. ‘Coalition of the Unwilling’ is a contradiction in terms and our minds should not be enforced to just accept it as is. It is actually our duty to unlock the complex message behind it and understand the social realities at stake.
While such coalitions could almost have restored our faith in Humanity, bringing together old-time enemies and multiplying alliances, it is actually revolting to realize that values such as solidarity and unity are completely dehumanized while instrumentalized for political ends.
As if solidarity cannot exist in the absence of enmity, the same way that unity cannot manifest itself in the absence of destruction, obliteration and chaos.
Is it the product of ‘RealPolitiks’ or our own human nature that needs to be questioned today?
We should not take this thinking as inevitable but denounce it as destructive and fallacious.
Solidarity should not imply threat or danger the same way as unity does not mean destruction. We need to rise against the socio-political realities we witness helplessly every day in order to denounce the immorality and fallacious reasoning enforced on us – and causing our suffering in silence… for we are not what we witness but what we choose to stand against and make a difference in.
‘Coalition of the Unwilling’ is an oxymoron, and my mind refuses to take it.
This article first appeared on The Sociolog Magazine.
