The Yacoubian Building — a refreshing departure from the “blame the West and Israel” bombast that Arab publics are typically served.
As authoritarian regimes across the Middle East routinely censor liberal and moderate Islamic views while tolerating extremists, democrats have a responsibility to help promote those voices that represent the “critical thinking and open inquiry that once characterized the Arab world,” write RAND’s Cynthia P. Schneider and Nadia Oweidat.
The United States and its allies can “help ensure that the voices of moderation are given a platform, equal to that given to fundamentalists”, they suggest, “by condemning censorship and persecution of writers, and encouraging investments in education, literacy, libraries and broader Internet access,” while NGOs could promote the dissemination of moderate Arab voices.
But governments should beware the “spoon-fed democracy” approach:
[F]oreign bureaucracies should not manufacture messages of democracy and tolerance to be broadcast at the Arab world. Such impulses need to come from within. They should be organic and authentic and free of government fingerprints.
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