All eyes are turned toward the Tunisian Islamic Ennahda Party after it earned a popular assignment to lead the transitional phase in the country following pluralistic and transparent elections. This will be the first Islamic experience of its kind in the Arab countries, especially since it comes in light of major transformations generated by the Arab Spring. The experience might be repeated in Egypt – one of the major states in the region and the one that enjoys historical influence in it – with the imminence of elections that will lead the transitional phase, which is also governed by the Islamic voice. And while the situation in Yemen and Syria is oscillating between violent confrontations with the opposition and the difficulty to reach a middle ground solution, it is likely that the Islamists will have the upper hand in any future stage. In Libya, one of the first announcements of the National Transitional Council that achieved victory over the former regime through the support offered by the West and NATO was related to the return to the Sharia'a, with all that this means in terms of the Islamists' control over the current phase and the constitution it will produce. In Morocco – which is preparing for early parliamentary elections – the polls are tilting in favor of the Islamists in the Justice and Development Party and their allies, as they are likely to get a prominent position in the next parliament. Hence, the Tunisian experience remains an archetype for the Islamists' accession to power, peacefully and via elections, following the failure of the Algerian and Sudanese experiences which emerged after an internal war that was seen in both countries and that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. This was due to numerous reasons, namely the inability of the latter two experiences to engage in a peaceful and democratic process to reach change and their attempts to impose their authority by force. When American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the willingness to cooperate with the Islamists in Tunisia, she noted that Ennahda Party promised to respect religious freedom and women's rights and that many parties with Islamic inclinations around the world were naturally engaging in the democratic game. She added: “The suggestion that faithful Muslims cannot thrive in a democracy is insulting, dangerous and wrong.” At the same time, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé contacted Ennahda's leader Rached Ghannouchi to inform him about the willingness to cooperate without prejudice. He justified this inclination during a radio interview by saying: “When I listen to the speeches of Ennahda's officials… they are saying we want a country in which Islam holds a key position but which also respects the democratic principles. We especially pledge not to harm women's status, even to improve it… I trust people… and we will work with them.” The United States and France seem to be the most sensitive Western countries toward the Islamists. Indeed, apart from the interests in a region where the Muslims constitute a vast majority, America is still suffering from the repercussions of Al-Qaeda's attacks on September 11, 2001 in its own home, as well as from the repercussions of its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where it faced resistance movements that linked themselves to Islam. As for France, it is particularly sensitive to this issue due to its long colonial presence in the Arab Maghreb, to the proximity between the two banks of the Mediterranean Sea and the impact of the Islamic Diasporas' aspirations on its internal situation. So, when these two countries welcome Ennahda's accession to power, it means that the electoral legitimacy of the Islamists in Tunisia is being backed up by the international recognition of the fact that Islamic rule is not opposed to the West and its values, and could even set the foundations for such values under an Islamic authority. This international recognition could be applied to the other Arab experiences, as long as the authority in them is offering guarantees related to democracy and public freedoms, such as the ones presented by Ghannouchi in regard to the respect of the just principles of the state, its civil aspect, human rights, political plurality and the peaceful transition of power. This could lead to a historical reconciliation between the Islamic civilizational and intellectual base and the requirements of the modern state, a reconciliation whose absence in the past was the source of the ongoing crises between the authority and the community, and the ongoing troubles with the outside world.
