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Independent Legislatures & Judiciaries Vital In Mid-East
March 28, 2005
Half the Arab world's population is under 20 years old; 100 million jobs must be created in the next 20 years, but economic modernization can't occur without "rule of law, accountability, and transparency...the essential components of a democratic polity." Real democratization in the Middle East requires more than the "incremental liberalization" embodied by "liberal autocratic" regimes; more than self-congratulatory non-governmental organization (NGO) initiatives on human rights, women's rights and democratic processes; and more than for-show-only political opposition. It requires truly autonomous political parties; independent legislatures and judiciaries; U.S. and European trade sanctions to compel just such reforms; privatization of state industries implemented so as to NOT primarily just enrich cronies of the ruling elite; and a diplomatic shunning by U.S. and European leaders of "liberal autocrat" rulers in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, until they embrace meaningful, paradigm-shifting reform. These steps will aid inestimably in home-grown efforts to "de-radicalize" Islam, the deadly capabilities and resentments of which are greatly fueled by the stifling of real democracy at home. Oh, and seriously, it's time to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not because its continuance is a legitimate excuse for the slow pace of Arab reform, but because it has "a corrosive impact on the Arab body politic." Deep breath. All that's according to Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, in his article, "Close, But No Democracy," in the winter issue of The National Interest. Read the whole thing. A somewhat more modest, but related wish is stated in the same issue of this fine quarterly, by Robert Conquest, a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Conquest appropriately warns that the word 'democracy" is "high on the list of "blur-begetters." In "Downloading Democracy," Conquest writes that the word and concept, "democracy," carries all sorts of unreasonable baggage, including the expectation of equality. Conquest clarifies that the ideal is rather, liberty; including "...a society that hears, considers and reforms grievances. It is not necessarily democratic, but it contains the possibility of democracy." In a way, I'd add, that Iraq clearly does, and Lebanon eventually may; while Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Gulf Kingdoms such as Qatar and Bahrain lag behind. Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 28, 2005 02:55 PM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Independent Legislatures & Judiciaries Vital In Mid-East:
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Two questions for "neo-conservatives": 1) Today's RealPolitics.com roster of articles contains a piece from Time.com by Scott Macleod, entitled, "A Jihadist's Tale: How a Young Jordanian Left His American Life and Died an Insurgent in Iraq." Like Mohammed Atta, Kalik Sheik Mohammed, and too many other jihadists I can think of, the young man depicted in this article was (a) not poor; (b) not uneducated; (c) not alienated from his family; and (d) not unfamiliar with the West. (He lived for several years in the U.S. and professed to like it.) Question: If the "neo-conservative" causal analysis of Islamic militancy is correct--political oppression plus large numbers of disaffected young men equals jihad--why do so many jihadist biographies fail to match the profile? 2) The front page of today's Wall Street Journal features a long article explaining how China is spending billions of dollars on the infrastructure of some of Africa's nastiest regimes--Sudan, Zimbabwe, etc.--all in an effort to form geopolitical alliances that will help them extract more of Africa's natural resources. Question: If the "neo-conservatives" are correct in thinking that it would be dumb for Americans to continue supporting Middle Eastern autocracies, how could it be smart for the Chinese to cultivate African despots? Shouldn't we be happy that they are wasting their money and sewing the seeds of future grief for themselves? Posted by: Tom Rekdal at March 29, 2005 03:20 PMPost a comment
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