Democracy Promotion By American NGOs
August 1st, 2008 by Sarah
An April 2008 paper, entitled “U.S. Interests in the Arab World: Democracy Promotion By American NGOs,” by Zoe Nautre has just been made available in English translation. Nautre analyzes the change in U.S. foreign policy toward the region, from having little interest in shaping the political and social realms of Arab countries to using democracy as a tool to neutralize terrorist threats. After reviewing the the key NGO players, Nautre argues that their work in promoting democracy was undermined from the get-go by the State Department and USAID because “short-term gains in the War on Terror were for the most part regarded as more valuable than a long-term approach.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, NGOs, US foreign policy | Comment »
Response to Wittes
July 31st, 2008 by Sarah
Steven Cook at the Council on Foreign Relations responds to Tamara Cofman Wittes’ article for the Journal of Democracy. Wittes puts forth some criteria to distinguish those Islamist groups that have a genuine commitment to democracy and those who don’t. Cook, however, is skeptical and argues that perhaps Islamist participation in elections “is the result of strategic calculation,” as the “most efficient means of accumulating political power as opposed to say, fomenting revolution or embracing democracy.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Elections, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Political Islam, US foreign policy | Comment »
Setback to Democracy Promotion
July 30th, 2008 by Sarah
Rami Khouri in the Daily Star looks to the advice of Robert Pelletreau, former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and ambassador to three Arab countries, to review why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the oil situation, and efforts to expand democracy are worse off now than before Bush became President. Democracy promotion “has been set back by our headlong push for elections in countries with little or no popular experience in political participation. The result has been clerical-led factions being elected in Iraq, Hamas winning parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories, the Muslim Brotherhood gaining ground in Egypt, Hizbullah becoming a stronger political force in Lebanon and even the word ‘democracy’ now being widely treated in the region as an American implant.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq, Israel, Muslim Brotherhood, Palestine, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Democratic Development in the Middle East and North Africa”
July 29th, 2008 by Adam
Today, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), the Middle East Institute (MEI), and Americans for Informed Diplomacy (AID) hosted a discussion with representatives from three conferences sponsored this spring by POMED and AID, in which young Middle Eastern and American leaders developed and ratified policy recommendations on how to improve America’s impact on Middle East reform. The participants included Erika Spaet and Sara Ait Imoudden from the Rabat Conference, Dina Elshinnawi and Mohamed Sabbah from the Cairo Conference, and Emily Crawford and Tharwat Alazab from the Amman Conference.
For POMED’s complete notes on the discussion, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Events, Foreign Aid, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
No Democratic Cure-All
July 29th, 2008 by Sarah
Lee Smith at Slate responds to Kenneth Pollack’s recently published book entitled “A Path Out of the Desert: A Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East.” “The paradox is that one of our sharpest limitations is that we believe democracy is a universal cure-all, good for all people at all times, when that is almost certainly not the case. However, as Pollack argues, democratic reform seems to be the only thing that will save the Middle East from consuming itself in violence, for the region can get worse than it is now, much worse.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, US foreign policy | Comment »
How Successful Was The Surge?
July 29th, 2008 by Sarah
In a debate hosted by American Prospect, Stephen Biddle, Shawn Brimley, Juan Cole, Matthew Duss, Colin Kahl, Lawrence Korb, John Nagl, Michael O’Hanlon, Marina Ottaway, and Thomas E. Ricks all weigh in on the Surge in Iraq and address the factors that have contributed to Iraq’s recent stability.
Stephen Biddle argues that despite the Surge’s failure to bring about its promised political compromise, a completely different possibility arose. The “Anbar Model” or “bottom up” approach was “one that was neither planned nor anticipated nor intended when the surge was designed, but which has nevertheless become central to the prospects for stability in Iraq.”
Shawn Brimley argues that the Surge is only one of many factors that contributed to the relative stability in Iraq. “The decline in violence in 2007 had much more to do with a change in U.S. strategy than simply the additional troops. A change in strategy, plus the Sunni Awakening, the decision of Sadr to stand down his militia, and the use of concrete barriers in Baghdad to separate Sunni and Shia were all extremely important factors that, along with the additional troops, combined to help lower the violence.”
Juan Cole looks more to the various groups that received U.S. funding to fight jihadis, the success of the Badr Corps paramilitary of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq over Sadr’s movement, and the ethnic cleansing of Sunnis, which left few mixed neighborhoods.
Matthew Duss warns that the “Anbar strategy,” which resulted in deals between Sunni tribal militias and the U.S., instead of redirecting political authority to a centralized government, could breed larger problems later. “It’s true that security is a prerequisite for state-building, but if that security only comes at the expense of the legitimacy of the state we’re supposedly trying to build, then we have an entirely new problem on our hands.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Iraq, Military, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Islamist Parties and Democracy
July 29th, 2008 by Sarah
The Journal of Democracy, of the National Endowment for Democracy, has released this quarter’s issue focusing on “Islamist Parties and Democracy.” Contributors include Tamara Cofman Wittes, Husain Haqqani, and Hillel Fradkin among others.
Wittes provides a more nuanced understanding of Islamist groups, as the “usual division of Islamists into ‘moderate’ and ‘extremist’ categories is less helpful than a threefold classification that suggests a distinct policy approach toward each group.”
Husain Haqqani and Hillel Fradkin explore the paradox of Islamists parties and their roots. “Do such parties thus represent a decisive break with the Islamist past that may portend revisions in other areas of Islamist doctrine as well?”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Political Islam, Political Parties, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: IRI Releases Findings From Pakistan Opinion Poll
July 29th, 2008 by Sarah
Last week, the International Republican Institute released the findings from its June 2008 Pakistan Public Opinion Poll. Thomas Garrett, Director of IRI’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Program, led the presentation of the survey’s findings alongside Rob Varsalone, IRI’s former Resident Country Director for Pakistan via teleconference.
71% of respondants believe that the new Pakistani government should engage in political dialogue with extremists.
61% believe the best way to combat extremists is with education and economic development. Another 24% believe these tactics should also be balanced with military force.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
For the entire Pakistan Public Opinion Survey, click here.
For IRI’s Pakistan Index, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Pakistan, Public Opinion, US foreign policy | Comment »
Competing Ideologies: Autocracy v. Democracy
July 28th, 2008 by Sarah
Robert Kagan at National Post’s Full Comment credits the rise of China and Russia for providing a new autocratic model for countries around the globe. “The question is: How long will the Middle East remain the exception to this pattern? It is possible that, over time, autocracies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia may see virtue in drawing closer to their fellow autocrats in Moscow and Beijing. It is also possible that a more democratic Lebanon, a more democratic Iraq and a more democratic Morocco may form a new bloc of pro-American democracies in the region, alongside the more moderate, democratizing autocracies of Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.”
Paul Wolfowitz at Standpoint.Online criticizes Kagan’s recommendation for a “league of democracies,” arguing that it would likely promote, not discourage, conflict, and that its basis is fragile. “While shared democratic values may help to draw such a coalition together, they are not necessarily the strongest link. A shared sense of threat…is not only the strongest motivating factor bringing countries together, but also the strongest deterrent to aggressive action by any regional power.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, US foreign policy | Comment »
Electing Anti-American Hugo Chavezes
July 28th, 2008 by Sarah
Grandmasta at Arabic Media Shack reviews Tamara Cofman Wittes’ new book entitled “Freedom’s Unsteady March: America’s Role in Building Arab Democracy.” Grandmasta disagrees with Wittes’ claim that promoting democracy in the Middle East is in America’s best interests. “Real democracy is certain to empower populist anti-American Arab-Hugo Chavezes, who would not toe the American line. For example, the first thing a representative Egyptian government would do is tell the US to “^*%@- off on Israel-Palestine policy…And economically, Democratically-representative Middle Eastern governments would be anti-free markets and move back towards socialism, which is also not in American interests (as currently defined).”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, US foreign policy | Comment »
The New Direction for Democracy Promotion
July 28th, 2008 by Adam
A recently released report by Lorne Craner and Kenneth Wollack, the Presidents of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute and members of POMED’s Board of Advisors, argues that the next administration should continue to remain committed to democracy promotion and looks at the challenges and opportunities that the next administration will face. Some of their recommendations for the next administration include, enshrining democracy promotion as part of U.S. foreign and national security policy, continued or expanded funding for democracy support programs, and ensuring that the value of democracy promotion efforts are better understood by American diplomats.
To read their full report, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Turkey’s Political Crisis: Implications for the Middle East”
July 25th, 2008 by Adam
Yesterday, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) held a discussion regarding the current political crisis in Turkey and the potential consequences for Turkey, the broader Middle East, U.S. relations with the region, and prospects for democracy. Panelists included Abdullah Akyuz, President of TUSIAD, the United States office of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association, Bulent Aliriza, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Director of CSIS’ Turkey Project, and Omer Taspinar, Professor of National Security Strategy at the U.S. National War College and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution where he directs Brookings’ Turkey Project. The discussion was moderated by Stephen McInerney, POMED’s Director of Advocacy.
For POMED’s full notes on the discussion, click here.
Posted in DC Event Notes, Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Events, Events, Political Islam, Turkey | Comment »
2008: Editorials Criticize Obama on Iraq
July 18th, 2008 by Matt
First, the Washington Post takes aim, decrying Obama’s “foolish consistency” on a timetable for withdrawal, and predicting that it will be extremely difficult to achieve in the manner Obama presents it. The Post also criticizes Obama’s “irrational” and “indifferent” behavior toward the grander strategic ramifications of the war, reiterating how Iraq is “vital” to U.S. security interests, as it sits at the “strategic center” of the Middle East on “some of the world’s largest oil reserves”. Matt Yglesias sarcastically rebuts the notion that we should care about Iraq because of oil strategy:
“Oops, did I say democracy promotion? I meant to say that Iraq has a lot of oil so we need to try to micromanage its future. And yet it’s precisely this impulse — the belief that we desperately need to retain “influence” in oil-possessing parts of the world that got us into the corrupt bargain with the Arab autocracies that produced the conditions under which al-Qaeda arose and began targeting us. Remember when Iraq was supposed to be part of a drive for reform that changed that dynamic? Oh for the heady days of the Arab spring.”
Also, The Wall Street Journal rips Obama’s “judgment” on the surge.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Election 08, Iraq, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
Where is America on Turkish Democracy?
July 18th, 2008 by Amanda
According to opinion by Aliza Marcus and Andrew Apostolou in the Washington Post, “Turkey’s political crisis has taken a turn for the worse” as the nation’s Constitutional Court is likely to ban Prime Minister Erdogan and his AKP party from government participation. They consider this a drastic measure that is certain to spark “political instability in an important U.S. ally.”
Despite the country’s importance for America in the region at large, “the U.S. government has been curiously quiet about this assault on Turkey’s democracy”. Marcus and Apostolou affirm that “if the United States is serious about promoting democracy in Muslim countries, it should stand up for Turkey’s democratically elected government.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Islam and Democracy, Secularism, Turkey, US foreign policy | Comment »
The Atlantic Divide on Democracy
July 14th, 2008 by Adam
In an interesting article in the Daily Star, Waleed Sadi examines the differences between American and European approaches to democratization in the Middle East. Sadi says the U.S. sees regional democratization as, “…a process with a political agenda linked to its strategic global policy.” This makes the American commitment to democracy much more inconsistent as the U.S. is willing to ignore democracy when it advances U.S. interests, while promoting it when their is little risk.
The Europeans, on the other hand, are more consistent even if its successes are limited. The EU takes a more subtle, nuanced approach and rarely criticizes nations that have yet to embark on political reform for fear of provoking a counterproductive response. Sadi concludes by elucidating the greatest difference on regional democratization by saying, “…the EU has concluded that democracy cannot be imposed from the outside, but must arise from within through a slow evolutionary process. Democracy needs to be nurtured and cultivated by creating a culture for democracy that does not arise out of nowhere. This conclusion has yet to dawn on the US leadership.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, EU, US foreign policy | Comment »
Mediterranean Union and the Middle East
July 10th, 2008 by Adam
With Sunday’s summit in Paris, many are discussing what impact, if any, this weekend’s launch of the Mediterranean Union will have on Euro-Arab relations and Middle East politics as well. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently decided to attend this weekend’s summit at the behest of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. However, “Ankara has been hesitating about whether to embrace the Union for the Mediterranean, an initiative spearheaded by Sarkozy, because of doubts that it may be an attempt to delude the country’s European Union membership prospects.”
Amitai Etzioni at Talking Points Memo sees the new union as an opportunity for Turkey to bolster its leadership in the Middle East and use its position as a functioning democracy to promote reform and regional integration. Etzioni says, “Calling on Turkey to lead the economic and political development of the Middle Eastern community fits well in a new global design.” Furthermore, “…a Middle Eastern community, serving as a democratizing magnet for other states in the region, would well complement such a global architecture.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, EU, Turkey | Comment »
Controversial Funds for Democracy Promotion in Iran
July 10th, 2008 by Adam
At the Public Record, Jason Leopold examines the State Department’s controversial “Democracy Program” to promote democracy, civil society, and human rights inside Iran. Leopold asserts that the money has been shrouded in secrecy with some of the money going to Iranian exile organizations in order to establish relationships with opposition groups. He also argues that the money is not having its desired effect as civil society and human rights organizations have rejected the funds as they believe it will taint their ability to bring change from within. Furthermore, such funds are described as having heightened Tehran’s insecurity and allowing them to justify crackdowns on opponents by citing foreign subversion.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Iran, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
Post-Bush Democratization
July 10th, 2008 by Adam
In the Daily Star, Marina Ottaway suggests that the next U.S. administration not forgo democracy promotion despite the mistakes of the Bush administration. Ottaway asserts that it would be very costly to give up on promoting democracy due to the appetite for reform and a realization among many in ruling circles that Arab autocracies may not be able to survive without significant change. She prescribes that the U.S. set low-key, modest goals tailored to each country’s experience so that democratization is seen as consistent and reasonable.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: Religious Freedom in Turkey
July 9th, 2008 by Sarah
The Congressional Human Rights Caucus Task Force on International Religious Freedom invited Ziya Meral, a Turkish researcher, and Patricia Carley, Policy Director for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to lead a staff briefing on the current political and social scene within Turkey and the status of religious freedom in the country. Both speakers agreed that banning the AKP party could be disastrous for democracy in Turkey. All comments were made off the record.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Freedom, Human Rights, Political Islam, Political Parties, Secularism, Turkey | Comment »
The Future of Democracy Promotion
July 3rd, 2008 by Sarah
Today, some heavyweights at Bitter Lemons make recommendations to the next President on how to promote democracy in the region.
Waleed Sadi argues that the U.S. uses democracy promotion as a political tool, “raised when it serves US interests and ignored when expedient.” The U.S. must recognize that “democracy needs to be nurtured and cultivated by creating a culture for democracy that does not arise out of nowhere.”
Marina Ottaway recommends that in order to rebuild its credibility, the next President must work with open-minded members of the ruling elite and democracy advocates in the region to set modest goals, tailored to the conditions in each country, and to pursue them consistently.
Michel Nehme raises the question is whether the integration of moderate Islamists “merely contributes to the stabilization of authoritarianism or paves the way for a more pluralistic and democratic political system.”
George Giacaman questions whether the U.S. is really committed to promoting democracy in the region. Instead, Giacaman suggests U.S. policy merely aims “to bring enough political stability so the countries of the region will remain within the US and western orbit. It’s not to get complete democracy.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Islamist movements, US foreign policy | Comment »
