The Fletcher School

“Forgive me for not having a prepared speech…the problem is every time you write a speech the events in the region force you to change it.” Jordanian Ambassador Karim Kawar began his discussion with Fletcher students and faculty on this candid note setting the tone for an honest, intimate discussion of the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Jordanian perspective.

Ambassador Kawar jumped right into the situation in Iraq. “Democracy,” he explained, “is a home grown crop.” Thinking that democracy in Iraq could be imported has been “the greatest fallacy” of the U.S. effort there.

Expressing the concern of Jordanians and others in the region, Ambassador Kawar raised many questions about the June 30th deadline put forth by the Bush Administration for handing the government over to the Iraqis. He questioned whether the current members of the Governing Council, most of whom are Iraqis who have lived in exile, are the appropriate future leaders of Iraq.

One student asked about the role of the media in perpetuating misperceptions in the region. Ambassador Kawar was quick to denounce much of the media coverage of the Iraqi war and the Middle East peace process. Fox takes one extreme; Al Jazeera takes another and neither is productive. Yet even the so-called moderate networks can have questionable coverage. “Why,” asked Ambassador Kawar, “do we hear that so many U.S. soldiers have been ‘killed’ and so many Iraqis have ‘died’…how did they die? Weren’t they killed too?”

Ambassador Kawar explained that while the situation in Iraq undoubtedly “complicates the situation in the whole region,” other issues are more important with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The Ambassador asserted that “the occupation of Palestinian territories has to come to an end.” He added that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “has managed to derail the whole peace process” and he discussed the problems with the wall currently being built by Israelis in the West Bank.

When asked whether achieving positive change is possible without first resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ambassador Kawar responded with an emphatic “yes.” Like many in the audience, Ambassador Kawar explained he too used to believe that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue was the first and only step towards improvement in the region. Yet in the face of conflict throughout the Middle East, Jordan has managed to improve its educational system and economy. Increased trade and technology transfer help Jordan maintain a steady pace of development.

“Can Jordan be a model for other countries in the region?” asked one student. Another “yes” from the Ambassador, but this one a bit less emphatic. Other countries can learn from Jordan’s democratic political reforms, but the Ambassador re-emphasized that “democracy is home grown” and half-jokingly added that Jordan has the good fortune of not having oil reserves, “so we invest in people, not oil.”

Jordan’s growth, explained Ambassador Kawar, was spurred by a “severe currency devaluation.” In the effort to recover from this shock, the private sector began to play a much more prominent role in Jordan. Political reforms fostered this transformation and led to an export boom, 40,000 new jobs, and a restructuring of the education system. Now first graders are learning to use computers and speaking English and in the next few years, the government’s aim is to have a ratio of eight students per computer in the classrooms. Jordan’s example proves that progress can be achieved in the Middle East, given the right circumstances, even as tensions continue over conflicts in Israel-Palestine and Iraq.