Source: Al Ahram Weekly

In today's world, one detects a growing tension between governments and nations. The democracies of Europe and North America are faltering on their commitments to their people; namely, on the social contract inherent in the modern state. These governments were supposed to safeguard the free economy, social justice, and civil and political liberties. Not anymore.

Wherever we look, we see a growing gap between the rich and the poor. In the US, less than 10 per cent of Americans own more than 70 per cent of the nation's wealth. And the Bush administration has encroached upon civil and political liberties and made a mockery of the traditional system of checks and balances. Now the US is in the middle of a recession triggered by military misadventure in Iraq. No wonder, then, that most Americans have lost faith in the country's institutions and politics.

In Europe, the encroachment on political rights may be less, but the gap between rich and poor is just as bad. Since Margaret Thatcher dismantled the welfare state in the UK (1979-1990), other governments in Germany, France, Italy and Spain have followed suit. In Germany, the middle class dwindled from 62 per cent of the population in 2000 to 54 per cent in 2006. Almost 12 per cent of Germans, 17 per cent of Britons and 18 per cent of Italians now live in near poverty.

In other parts of the world, where democracy never took root to start with, things are worse. In countries such as China, Russia, Iran, Egypt, Morocco and Venezuela, political rights are sketchy at best. China's communist government crushed demonstrators in Tiananmen in 1989. The Russian government is not listening to those who question Putin's power, so the man who was president is going to be prime minister. Egypt, for its part, gets short-tempered whenever demonstrators take to the street to voice economic and other grievances.

Only in the Gulf can governments keep their citizens happy. That's done by using oil revenue to provide various public services. But how long can a country live on oil alone? And how long can one tribe or clique monopolise power to the exclusion of others? We need governments that care for all, not the few. In brief, we need a new social contract.