Should the West be concerned the Arab Spring might turn into a stony icy Winter?

As someone who grew up in an autocracy, before Facebook and Twitter, I know too well that paralyzing yearn for having a voice and living in a democracy and a republic where all is equal and fair. However, I also saw firsthand what harried democracy brings to the surface. Like most rushed projects, only parties that have been prepared for a while – usually illegally and underground – can work under pressure to deliver a coherent campaign in a few month. Most Arab nations (including those with the word Democratic next to their name) have some sort of ban of political parties and activities except for the ruling party.

North Africa and the Middle East are mostly Islamic nations, some are more secular than others but they are mostly, especially North Africa, moderate with little or no Sharia Law enforced. But still the only politically and financially organised group is the Muslim Brotherhood and because of that in the case of any hurried election, they will be the most ready and best prepared.

We saw it a few weeks ago in Egypt when a religious conflict triggered mass killing. Up until the Arab Spring Egyptians were a nation where Muslims and Christians lived, worked and worshiped hormonally side by side. Then again in Libya, the first announcement the NTC made after Gaddafi’s death was the return to Sharia and Islamic laws. And now in Tunisia, one of the most secular Arab nations elects on a 90% turnout with an overwhelming majority, the Islamist Ennahda party – a group outlawed during President Ben Ali’s rule on the grounds that it was planning an Islamist takeover of the country!

Three consecutive upraises and three successive Islamic takeovers, signaling the possibility of the full implementation of Sharia Law, a way of life that is completely opposite to Western style democracy and more in line with what is now practiced in Saudi Arabia and Iran. I ask again, should we in the West be concerned?