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Map of Middle East |
December 2004
Table of Contents
Front cover (PDF, 2 pages, 632.1 Kb)
Table of Contents (PDF, 2 pages, 728.3 Kb)
The Door by Dorin Tudoran (PDF, 3 pages, 275.1 Kb)
It is no easy task to choose the theme of a magazine's first edition. However, the most challenging issue won our interest with almost no competition. The post- 9/11 era provided the world with a two-fold challenge. First, the clash within the Islamic world between the radical fundamentalists and "the new reformers of Islam" is rightly characterized by the French author and founder of Le Nouvel Observateur Jean Daniel as "a gigantic speed competition." The winner could make all the difference for the future of mankind.
Beyond Democracy
The Challenge of Aid by Carl Gershman (PDF, 1 page, 81.0 Kb)
The Middle East presents democracy promoters with both an urgent and difficult problem. The President of the National Endowment for Democracy lays out one path to reform.
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, strengthening democracy in the Middle East has become a central priority not just for the United States but for the international community writ large. Before 9/11, the National Endowment for Democracy was among a small handful of organizations that supported efforts to advance democracy in the Middle East. At that time, the general tendency among both policymakers and democracy practioners was to look the other way and to tacitly accept the doctrine of "Arab exceptionalism," which presupposes the inability of the Arab region, alone among the major cultures of the world, to achieve democracy. While this doctrine is now generally rejected, democratic progress in the Middle East remains limited.
Turning Democracy into Development by Wassim Harb (PDF, 1 page, 74.4 Kb)
As sister disciplines, politics and economics contribute to the well-being of any society. A Lebanese legal expert explores the relationship between the two and describes how politics might be used as a springboard to economic health.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are launching a new initiative—entitled "Good Public Governance for Development in the Middle East and North Africa"—that aims to promote economic growth by stemming corruption and improving good governance in the Middle East. In particular, it will support the efforts of Arab leaders to use good governance—i.e., enhanced transparency, accountability and rule of law—to generate sustainable human development.
Fieldwork
Groundwork for Hope interview with Fidaa Shehada (PDF, 2 pages, 195.1 Kb)
In the long-running conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, democratization has been proposed as a source of resolution and, ultimately, peace. President Bush put the spotlight on Palestinian democratization with his 2002 announcement of the roadmap for peace in the Middle East, and many Palestinians have been working to create a democratic framework in which, despite the ongoing conflict, citizens can live normal lives. In a conversation with Fidaa Shehada, who has trained governmental, nongovernmental and private sector staff in crisis management, democracy at large explored the impact of the conflict on democracy building.
Beginning to Argue Politics in Baghdad by Jeff Fischer (PDF, 1 page, 80.1 Kb)
An elections expert describes the battles in Iraq—but these engagements are over political ideas and systems of representation. Work continues to ensure that Iraq's future is one built through democratic dialogue.
In Iraq, a political process is now evolving under United Nations leadership and Iraqi stewardship. Begun in April, this process has unfolded in the midst of a violent security scenario that included the siege of Fallujah, a spate of foreigner kidnappings and the Sadr/Sunni insurrection. Despite this backdrop of strife, the legal framework, key institutions and political consensus now exist to provide Iraqis a political means to achieve governance. In January 2005, the Iraqis will elect a National Assembly that will write a permanent Iraqi constitution.
A Campaign for Women's Rights by Rabéa Naciri (PDF, 1 page, 97.5 Kb)
In several Arab countries, personal status laws restrict women's legal rights. In Morocco, women's groups took advantage of the country's political liberalization to press for reform. And they won.
In February 2004, Morocco adopted a new Moudawana, or Code of Personal Status (CSP), which governs family relations and had held women to be legally inferior to men. The discriminatory nature of this code was at the heart of the struggle of the Moroccan women's movement for nearly a quarter century. It was only through sustained efforts of women and other members of civil society that the small, gradual gains were eventually translated—in what political analysts in Morocco consider to be a turning point in the country's history—into victory and a more fair and just law.
Thinking Out Loud
Can Islamists be Democrats? (PDF, 4 pages, 301.5 Kb)
Islamist groups—or those who want to build a political society based on Islamic law—present democracy promoters with a real challenge. Three authors investigate the historical forces that have shaped the political ambitions of Islamist groups in Turkey, North Africa and Indonesia.
Even Tougher Now interview with Thomas Carothers (PDF, 1 page, 90.1 Kb)
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Democracy and Rule of Law Director discusses the current challenges of democracy promotion and its prospects in the Middle East.