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Pennywise commitment to Arab
democracy
By David Isenberg
Last month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell
unveiled the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative
(MEPI). At its core, the initiative is a democratization
effort, encompassing a set of small-scale projects
targeted at such groups as women, youths and educators.
The goal is to support educational, economic and
political reform in the Arab world - qualities that Arab
elites themselves have admitted are lacking and sorely
needed.
In fact, MEPI has been delayed several
times as tensions have grown around Iraq. Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage will serve as
coordinator for the project, to be managed by the State
Department´s Bureau of Near East Affairs.
The
aim of the initiative is, at least rhetorically,
unambiguous: to allow freedom, opportunity, prosperity
and civil society to flourish. In a candid speech at the
Heritage Foundation in Washington DC on December 12,
Powell said, "Throughout history, the countries of the
Middle East have made invaluable contributions to the
development of the arts and sciences. Today, however,
too many people there lack the very political and
economic freedom, empowerment of women, and modern
education they need to prosper in the 21st century. The
2002 Arab Human Development Report, written by leading
Arab scholars and issued by the United Nations,
identified a fundamental choice between 'inertia … [and]
an Arab renaissance that will build a prosperous future
for all Arabs'. These are not my words. They come from
Arab experts who have looked deeply into the issues.
They are based on the stark facts."
As
rhetoric goes, it was commendable, but hardly stirring.
Not exactly the "vision thing", as George Bush senior
might say.
Some of the
specific projects proposed for funding are:
A Partnerships for Learning program to share
knowledge with all levels of society in the Middle East
through programs such as a Georgia State University
workshop for non-governmental leaders from Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates.
Programs focused on improving the lives of girls and
women through literacy training and scholarships to stay
in school.
Teacher training programs at the primary and
secondary school levels and expanded university linkages
for higher education.
Scholarships for undergraduate study in the United
States and in American universities within the region,
focusing on degrees in fields such as economics,
education, business administration, information
technology and the sciences.
Assistance to Arab members of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) to help them comply with their
commitments and provide technical assistance on WTO
criteria to aspiring WTO members in the region.
Enterprise funds with private sector management to
provide capital and technical assistance to promising
entrepreneurs and their business ventures.
Scholarships from the US Department of Commerce
Special American Business Internship Training Program to
provide internships in American companies, and also to
focus on developing networks and training opportunities
for women entrepreneurs from the Middle East.
Overall, the MEPI’s economic initiatives were
only a general call for reform; none of them were
particularly new.
The MEPI is likely to
encounter resistance in target countries, considering
the authoritarian nature of many Arab governments.
Indeed, the announcement has received a mixed welcome
from Arab officials. According to the Daily Star in
Beirut, "Powell's long-awaited and much-postponed
initiative turned out to be superficial, marginal, weak
and impotent; it didn't even come close to fulfilling
the hopes of those for whom it was devised: the Arab
peoples."
Typical is one commentary in the
December 18 Jordan Times, which asked, "How could the US
expect to reconcile the distinct contradiction implied
in its initiative, as it is crystal clear that the
democracy and the political reform, as sought by the
'partnership initiative', will only unleash more hostile
anger at the US?"
Similarly, in an article
entitled "Zero Point Zero" in the Beirut Al-Safir,
editor Joseph Samahah suggested that the purpose of the
initiative was "to link the ambitions of some people in
the Arab world to the objectives of the United States,
not the objectives of the United States to the ambitions
of people in the Arab world". He also mocked the the $29
million allocation, saying it was "zero point zero fifty
eight (0.058) percent" of the American arms sales to the
Arab countries in the past decade.
Nevertheless,
the final basket of MEPI also includes:
Assistance to non-governmental organizations and
individuals from across the political spectrum working
for political reform through mechanisms such as the
Middle East Democracy Fund.
Support for establishment of more NGOs, independent
media outlets, polling organizations, think tanks and
business associations - groups that create the
foundation for a vibrant democracy.
Programs that will increase the transparency of
legal and regulatory systems and improve administration
of the judicial process.
Training for candidates for political office and for
members of parliaments and other elected officials.
Training and exchanges for electronic and print
journalists.
However, the MEPI itself suffers
one significant problem, namely, putting its money where
its mouth is. The MEPI will supposedly encompass the more
than $1 billion in assistance that the US government
provides to Arab countries annually. But in terms of
actual new funding, the United States is committing just
$29 million in initial funding for pilot projects.
Considering that amount is to be spread among 25 states,
it is hard to escape the conclusion that it will be no
more than a public relations exercise.
Those who
were waiting for something like the post-World War II
Marshal Plan hoped in vain.
Indeed, some believe
that the MEPI is merely an attempt to silence critics
who allege that Washington favors authoritarian
pro-American governments. As Robert Satloff of the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy noted in a
December 17 commentary on the Institute’s website, the
$29 million allocation "in effect offer[s] less than a
dime per Arab in the current fiscal year (or, as some
press stories pointed out, less than the Saudi royals
spent on their summer holidays in Marbella)."
Nor is that the only disconnect. Satloff also
noted that Powell’s pro-democracy rhetoric had some
caveats. As Powell put it during the question and answer
session of his Heritage Foundation speech, "It will be a
challenge for each and every one of those nations to
find the proper way forward. And I think that each and
every one of them will find a model that is unique to
their culture, unique to their history, unique to their
experience, and unique to the aspirations of their
people. It's not going to be a Jeffersonian model that
is imposed in each one."
(©2003 Asia Times
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