Fares Center Hosts Dialogue on US Promotion of Democracy in the Middle East
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n Arab reformer talks to God and asks if democracy will ever take root in the Middle East. God replies, “Absolutely, but not in my lifetime.”
Mohammed Herzallah, a second-year Fletcher student, offered up this joke in the course of his presentation at The Fares Center Forum on US-Middle East Diplomacy. The topic was “Should the US Promote Democracy in the Middle East and, if so, How?” Hosted by Ambassador William A. Rugh, Fletcher students Shahla Al-Kli, Erin Clancy, Hawazin Naseef, Ivan Rasmussen, Dahlia Shaham, and Tarek Zeidan, Mohammed Herzallah offered their perspectives on US democracy policy.
Many themes emerged during the discussion, the first one being that the Middle East is a diverse region for which one cookie-cutter model of democracy is not sufficient. The second was the call for patience in effecting lasting change.
Al-Kli criticized American post-conflict intervention in Iraq, where democracy was treated like a to-do list of rushed constitution building and premature elections. “When Iraqis go shopping,” she said, “they bring a list but take their time to get the right items and discover better ones.” American haste compromised the foundation for a true democracy. Patience, she argued, is needed for this long-term project.
Clancy echoed these sentiments, pointing out that women in the US were not granted the right to vote until the 1920s. “Democracy is not a one-term or even two-term issue,” she said. Clancy stressed that long-term results are born in moving beyond traditional democracy markers like elections. The US government needs to become a true partner in building civil society by sending diplomats outside capital cities and engaging with local actors.
Naseef picked up the theme of bottom-up democracy building. “Changing the government doesn’t make people democratic,” she said. Democracy is not only a way of governing but a way of living. It needs to become a way of operating in schools, the workplace, families, and even interpersonal relationships. Without this basis of democratic practices, people will inevitably vote along tribal and religious lines. For example, in recent Saudi municipal elections, hard-line religious extremists were elected who, although knowledgeable about religion, know little about governing.
Rasmussen agreed that elections should not be a top indicator of a functioning democracy. A better indicator is the health of the political system in terms of participating political parties. Instead of banning Islamists or refusing their participation in government, it is wiser to allow them to compete in the political process. This will inevitably push them towards the center in order to win more votes.
The topic of political parties sparked a memory for Ambassador Rugh, who shared how he tried to convince the leader of a Middle Eastern country to allow multi-party system. The leader declined, stating that only one political party was necessary to represent the people’s interests. A few years later, however, he decided to open the system to more parties. When Rugh asked why, the leader explained that he preferred his opposition to operate in the open instead of underground.
Shaham brought a different perspective to the panel. More information, she argued, leads to better decisions by the people, and it cannot be taken away. Therefore, democracy can be promoted by liberalizing communication to facilitate the flow of information. Demilitarization is also critical, Shaham emphasized, expressing concern about the overwhelming flow of arms in the region.
The final panelist, Zeiden, joined Shaham in questioning how well certain presumed democracies are functioning. Zeidan charged that Lebanon was less a democracy than a feudal system in disguise, where MPs are succeeded by sons, wives, and grandchildren. “The tree doesn’t change the soil. It adapts or dies,” he said, joining the consensus that building democracy from the ground up is the best approach.
Despite the many challenges to democracy in the Middle East, none of the panelists were without hope. The positive examples of Morocco, Bahrain, and Kuwait have demonstrated that careful, consistent progress can bring stability. But while grass-roots approaches are essential, thoughtful and robust American diplomacy to Middle Eastern heads of state remains a key element to achieving lasting change and democracy.
Cybčle Cochran F’09