Region | Palestinian Territories
US blamed for failing to democratise Arab states
Democratic reforms in the Middle East have failed to take off or even leave a nominal impact on Arab countries, a new study says.
- By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor
- Published: 21:45 June 9, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
Dubai: Democratic reforms in the Middle East have failed to take off or even leave a nominal impact on Arab countries, according to a study published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Arab countries largely remain autocratic, the study said and blamed the current US administration for failing to transform them to democracy. The study called for a clear strategy with rational objectives for democratic reforms in the region.
Democracy was high on the agenda of George W. Bush administration during 2004-05, but later declined due to a lack of strategy on the part of the administration, Marina Ottaway, expert in democracy and political transformation and the author of the study, told Gulf News in a telephone interview.
Commenting on the study, Dr Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria (NOHR), said the US and the EU have never been sincere about promoting democracy in the Arab world and no one in the region would believe the Americans and the Europeans any more.
Blackmail
"Call for democracy is meant to blackmail the regimes rather than implementing real changes in the region. They are sure that any reform will not be in favour of Israel which makes them abandon the support for change," he said.
Dr Qurabi said Arab activists have fallen prey to their autocratic governments because of miscalculation regarding the true intention of foreign power to support the democratisation process in the Arab world.
Yassir Adle, prominent Egyptian pro-democracy activist and assistant teacher of Statistics at Al Mansoura University, said although he fights for democratic transformation in Egypt he doesn't believe in US intentions. He would accept any reform that will bring justice to the country.
He believes that the low ratio of educated people as compared to the total population in Egypt is a great obstacle towards achieving full-scale democracy, like the case in Europe.
"We, in the Arab countries, have a long way to go before being able to implement democracy in our societies. "First, we have to instill secular values in our societies to avoid manipulation by demagogic leaders. Our societies are still immature and place no great value for freedom. Our societies are prone to succumb to demagoguery," he said.
Ottaway said: "I am sure the Arab world will embrace democracy at one stage, but I don't see it happening in the next few years because the atmosphere is not yet ripe for the process. People and community leaders in this part of the world have to work harder in order to achieve the goal of democratisation.
"I am against the idea that Arabs cannot be democratic and that Islam is incompatible with democracy. On the contrary, I think people in the region love democracy and the tradition of societies here encourages democratic thinking. Arabs might lack the energy and encouragement to march towards the goal," Ottaway said.
Concerning the US, she said, it was not yet clear what the new administration is going to do for promoting democracy in the region and what the plans are to push for political reforms.
Ottaway said concerns about security and stability have now virtually halted US democracy promotion efforts.
"The United States needs to renew its efforts baring in mind that the performance of the current administration in the past five years has negatively affected the credibility of America in the region," she said.
She said Arab activists have to accept the fact the only good democracy can achieve is the one coming from inside.
Dr Qurabi agreed that democracy from within is better but unless there is true efforts from the US to solve the Palestinian issue, it will be difficult for Arab activists to succeed in the mission because all regimes in the region stand against any democratic movements because of hostility with Israel.
"The more pressure the US exert on regimes in the Arab world the more pressure the regimes inflict on activists. In many countries, democratic activists are portrayed as either puppets of the West or terrorists and agents of Al Qaida.
He said activists in the Arab world are unfortunately paying the price of injustice in Palestine because of the legitimacy the governments have in fighting aggressions and standing against the US hegemony.
"Until the US plays a fair role in the region with no vetos on the outcome of the democratic procedure; reforms are possible because governments in the region will do whatever it can to sabotage the process," he said.
Do you think the US and EU have genuine intentions to bring democracy to the region? How has the war in Iraq affected the region's perceptions of democracy? Tell us at Letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments
Your comments
America is acting like world Police. They are the real devils in the world .
Deepak
Dubai,UAE
Posted: June 10, 2008, 10:43
We, in the US, are not so naive to believe that democracy can be imposed by ANY outside entity. Democracy comes from the people. If Arabs don't want it, the matter is not under our control. For now, most Arabs seem to have chosen autocracy.
Dorothy
Colorado,USA
Posted: June 10, 2008, 01:22
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