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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Morocco: Is King Mohammed VI the Arab Gorbachev?This question only at first sight seems meaningless. In fact the Arab world hasn't represented for centuries a united political entity. So no matter what the politicians do in one Arab country it will have no direct repercussions on all the others. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and the Soviet empire during Gorbachev represented a clear hierarchical structure; the impulses for change coming from the very top couldn't be disregarded. Morocco is a traditional society with still strong influence of religion, especially among its numerous peasants. Communist Soviet Union by late 1980s was a secular bureaucratic society, highly urbanized and industrialized. But beyond these obvious differences a close look toward what's happening in Morocco recently is helpful from time to time in order to keep control over the events. I'm sure that some day historians will study this period as a case for how an authoritarian, poor, traditional and religious society gradually turned into democratic, wealthier, modern and to a degree secular one. What makes me compare the king of Morocco with the former Soviet leader is the fact that he's literally unique among all Arab leaders, and represents a tiny minority among non-elected sovereigns in the globe, who has dared to challenge the moral authority of his own political regime. He has done this by initiating a process of opening the bloody history pages of the country, pages telling us about hundreds of abducted citizens, of thousands killed and imprisoned, of mass graves and inhumane conditions deserved for those opposing the regime in the past. A special public commission was charged to open these files and its hearings were publicly broadcasted. In retrospect this may look like a paradox, but in a society still ruled by non-democratic norms, it was the president of this commission and a human rights activist Idres bin Zekri who was considered to be the Man of the Year 2005 among more than 100 prominent people in Morocco, including the king himself. Gorbachev opened the Pandora box in mid-1980s and millions learned about Gulag camps. These revelations were enough to make the communism discredited, but weren't enough for many nations, including the Russian, to opt for consolidated democratic norms. Opening similar box, the Moroccan king risks to undermine some traditionalists who support his throne without at the same time to attract enough secular intellectuals who may be needed in time of painful social transformations. It's still a mystery why the king decided to establish this commission in first place. The truth may heal sometimes, but no reforms anywhere in the world have been done by truth alone. What this king needs now is some more social support, but dividing society on victims and monsters won't help to produce any positive mobilization. We may only wish him to succeed in turning his regime into the first functioning parliament monarchy in the Arab world.
Morocco profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Morocco.
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