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The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have aroused popular support and widespread sympathy from the citizens of the Western world - though not necessarily from their governments. The demands of the Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans, Jordanians, Iranians and Syrians seem perfectly reasonable: they want a government that supplies the public services that we, in the West, take for granted. These include job creation, economic opportunities, access to affordable food and better living conditions. Most importantly, they want a government that they consider legitimate. Indeed, the uprisings of the Middle East and North Africa are embedded in the very foundations of the state: the social contract, which is the raison d'être of the modern state. It is also the reason why we, in the West, cannot safely look on at the Middle East from the comfort of our living rooms, as we must question whether our state is performing its side of the contract, and if not, whether the consequences of this apathy may also eventually lead to popular uprisings here.

The provision of security justifies state intrusion into the lives of its citizens, who are compelled to contribute to their common defense through taxes. The rest of the public services are secondary to this first condition, and are the result of a process of bargaining between the state and its people. This ‘bargaining' is currently occurring in the Middle East and North Africa, where citizens are expelling a state that no longer justifies its existence through the provision of security or public services. Furthermore, some of these states, in particular the oil producers, derive their capital from foreign investment and do not have the need to tax their citizens. While this may appear to be a saving grace, I suggest that taxation is elemental to the social contract. It guarantees an interaction between the state and its people, and allows the citizens to hold their state accountable by expecting and demanding something in return for their taxes.

The conflicts between the state and the citizens have already occurred in the West, and we have fought bloody battles for our right to representation and government-provided health care, education, infrastructure and security, which are today the foundations of our economic development and of our comfort. Our hard-earned public services, however, are currently threatened by the privatization trend that has spread across the Western hemisphere. Since the 1980s, European countries and the United States have rushed to sell their state responsibilities to the private sector. This includes privatizing schools, hospitals, postal services, energy and telecom services. Faced with imminent bankruptcy, some Western governments have been more than eager to privatize the public services that we take for granted, thus shirking off their responsibilities towards the citizens. Whereas private companies may arguably provide the same services in a more cost-efficient manner, they are not accountable to the public. Even more alarming, however, is the privatization of the police and the military. This last element undermines the legitimacy of the state as the provider of security and threatens our democratic control over the armed forces and consequently over the state itself.

While we look at the Middle East and Africa with sympathy and encourage the people's uprising against a government that does not fulfill its part of the social contract, we must question whether our governments are still capable of providing for their people, or whether the ‘success' of privatization has weakened the state's relationship and ability to serve its citizens. The state is progressively eroding itself by outsourcing its obligations from the provision of security to the building of basic infrastructure. If public services and military defense are both in the hands of private actors, then what legitimacy does the state have for collecting taxes? Even if the state exerts control over these private companies, there is still no democratic control over the corporations that provide ‘security' as these entities have no vested interest in the state and its people but are motivated by profit-maximizing ethos. The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa were expected, if not predicted, in view of the failures of the government to satisfy its social contract and provide for its people. Whereas the West appears stable on its pedestal of experience, it should beware the consequences of its enthusiasm for privatization, which undermines its legitimacy in the eyes of the people. This has already led to public demonstrations by disillusioned and disenfranchised youths throughout Western Europe who feel betrayed by the state's failures to provide them with education, economic opportunities, and trust in their government. The recent experience of the Middle East and North Africa should serve as a reminder that the government needs the cooperation of its citizens to survive, and must in exchange fulfill its social and political mandate.

Caroline Varin is a PhD Candidate at the London School of Economics where her research focuses on development, conflict and military strategy.

This article was submitted for the atlantic-community.org's competition: "Empowering Women in International Relations." It coincides with the 10th Anniversary of UN resolution 1325 calling for an increased influence of women in all aspects of peace and security. The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Mission to NATO and the NATO Public Diplomacy Division.

You can read more submissions from the competition here.