The Virtues of Dissent
“Dissent is a constitutive virtue of democracy” writes Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Political Theory at New York’s Columbia University. “Rather than corroding social ideals, as authoritarians and conservatives believe, it strengthens partiality and cooperation between citizens. Dissent reveals a fundamental loyalty to a country, a society or a community.” But how is dissent developing nowadays in the Arab world? And what should the West do to support it?