The U.S. should maintain financial and moral assistance to Arab reformers, despite concerns that such support provokes a backlash, a new analysis concludes. “The value of programs like the Middle East Partnership Initiative should not be discounted just because they are a legacy of the Bush administration,” say Isobel Coleman and Tamara Cofman Wittes.
“In the end, American support – both direct (through the U.S. government) and indirect (through the National Endowment for Democracy and regional foundations) – should be offered to Arab activists, leaving them free to decide whether they can afford to accept it,” they argue.
Despite the shortcomings of the Freedom Agenda, “regional activists credit American attention to democracy and human rights for creating an umbrella under which they can better press their own demands for change.”
There is considerable scope to marry reform imperatives to wider interests through new partnerships that engage regional states while also empowering independent actors. In Egypt, for example, a strategic dialogue on economic development should be broadened to include counter-terrorism and human rights issues, while new economic assistance should be conditional on Cairo meeting benchmarks for reform.
Hosni Mubarak’s regime has tried to impede democracy assistance to local activists or divert funds to GONGOs and the next president “should insist on the principle that the U.S. government must be the one to determine the recipients of its democracy and governance funding.” Democracy assistance funding should also take advantage of renewed activism in Egypt’s labor movement.
Even in Saudi Arabia, there is potential for promoting a human development agenda and supporting the country’s emerging civil society groups. “While there is potential for backlash against U.S. involvement, reformers within the kingdom are best placed to judge, and they still view U.S. support as important to maintain momentum behind reform initiatives,” they write.
While noting “no Arab leader has made either an unqualified commitment to or any significant progress toward full-fledged electoral democracy,” Coleman and Wittes believe it is imperative that the U.S. continue to sustain support for reform in moderate Arab states like Jordan and Morocco, even if local, bottom-up initiatives will be critical to genuine democratization.
“Wherever possible, reform should be encouraged by supporting the demands of indigenous activists and by using international norms, positive incentives, and societal and cultural exchange and learning,” they conclude.
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