Just how democratic is the Middle East getting?

>				ground? How is the US making good on its
If democracy is any more up for a redefinition				promise to actually effect greater and true
anywhere, now would be the time and the Middle				democracy in the Arab world. Good question. How
East would be the place. Events in Iraq and the				do you go about effecting deeper democracies in
elections of the Palestians had a contageous				countries which hardly have any other idea of
effect in other Middle Eastern countries too. For				ruling other than by what they deem decent
the first time in at least 50 years, we see				autocratic approach.
grassroots demand for updated versions of				To truly affect Arab countries in the heart of
democracy in countries that have long been				their political systems would first neccessitate an
dominated by authoritarian regimes; Egyptians				overhaul of the legal system, in order for
have been demanding to be allowed a multi party				constitutions to be reformed, And this is
system, in Lebanon the fall of a strongly Syrian				something that needs most governments’
influenced government went accompanied by				approval before it can go underway. The way an
street rallies and even in Syria, where street bans				opposition party recently has started out in Egypt
are most stringent, the people going out on the				is an example of just how precarious it is to tread
streets were unusually defyant. What are the				this water. To be legitimate, a party needs
chances that the grassroots demand for				approval from the incumbent rules, who control
democracy will actually begin to intersect with				the entire judicial system.
supply from home governments?				The push for democracy hits a brick wall here.
Go to any Arab country and read the headlines of				You can have as many programs as you like
background sections of newspapers and				assessing the possibilities for democracy in a
you’ll surely find yourself immersed in				society, but so long as working out the practical
series and series of studies on the merits of true				recommendations of such programs remains an
democracy, women’s rights as well as the				illegal activity, democracy will be a higly desirable,
links between Islam and women’s rights.				yet unachievable goal.
You could argue that news in the Arab world is				What is needed is a change in countries’
taken in a literal sense here but after the sixth				judicial systems if any of the over-researched
week, you’ll find yourself harboring less				ideas can begin to become plausible in reality. In a
than democratic feelings for the editors of the				paper entitled Beyond Liberalisation’,
papers for their lack of ingenuity.				Daniel Brumberg, an associate professor of
Slowly, however, all the theorising is being				government at Georgetown University hits the
replaced by real live examples of efforts to				nail on the head, drawing a sharp distinction
effect greater democracy in Middle Eastern				between democracy and political liberalization. The
countries. Not least to the satisfaction of senior				latter is about promoting a freer debate and
US officials including President Bush, who				competition in the media, civil society, and political
reiterated that the time has come for the Middle				parties. Democracy rests on rules, institutions, and
East to shrug off the shackles of authoritarian				political practices through which voters regularly
regimes only last week.				and constitutionally replace or modify their
Both in policy circles and on the ground, change is				leadership by the exercise of representative
taking place, observers say. To descrIbe where				political power.
the two parties interlock would be to cover the				Political liberalization is a necessary but far
story of the century no doubt. A lot has been				from sufficient condition for democracy, which is
said already about the spread of democracy in				something that is effected when you have a
the Middle East, but events are finally beginning to				most opportune intersection between demand
provide the poignancy that the rhetoric went				and supply, says Brumberg in his article which
short of for decades and decades.				is published in the Wilson Quarterly. Work on
Why the euphoria? In the Middle East, grassroots				creating the necessary ingredients for the
still really means grassroots. That is why ever				democratic pie has long gone underway and
since the 9/11 attacks, the think tanks (who have				hopeful signals are being heard that the puzzle
a reputation of providing the most dependable				might begin to come together.
information on the societies they are active				Civil society organizations are virtually agents of
in)’ refocus from the Israeli Palestinian				what Brumberg terms a demand-driven model
piece efforts to ways of combating terrorism has				of slow reforms’. And now more than
been more on the money than ever.				ever, given their refocused agendas. The
After the 9/11 attacks, many institutions				grassroot demand combined with greater
overhauled their agendas and soon their work				participation in the discourse on the possibilities of
started to reflect the exact concerns that were				democracy is slowly bearing fruit.
alive on the policy making level. Topics included				Incumbent Arab regimes are protected from all
research into promotion of democracy in a way				too dramatic challenges but will have to bow
that endorses, rather than undermines stability;				down to people demanding their rights. What was
the war on terrorism, along with the diminution of				taking place in Lebanon and Syria the last few
extremism and radicalism as well as the				weeks was a good testcase of how a power
nation-building process in Iraq.				struggle is done the peaceful way. Events have
What was taking place was a shift toward new				proved that governments do not necessarily cede
realities. Initially, the organizations were accused				control when street rallies take place. In a sense
for totally missing out on any alarming signals that				the Arab people’s love for their leaders is
the wider Arab societies might have issued ahead				something Western states might even envie. If
of the 9/11 attacks, but this was soon forgotten.				democratisation in the Middle East becomes a
More pressing issues such as bigger scope for				reality, these societies are likely to flourish in ways
democracy in more Arab countries were gaining				hardly seen elsewhere.
momentum as the invasion of Iraq and the effort				It will be interesting to see if the US role in the
to build a democracy in that ravaged country				Middle East will stay largely the same as its Cold
became a matter of western style branding of a				War programs to aid democracy, a policy
seemingly revamped phenomenon.				whereby the country aided its friends by
As Washington was showing itself ready to				supporting government structures and undermined
entertain an unprecedented level of political risk				its foes in the hope that communist regimes
and uncertainty’, the idea of Arab				would collapse. Later on the friendly stance was
autocracy was slowly beginning to become more				seen as inducing terrorism. It remains to be seen
and more old fashioned. All nice for who was				whether in future, Arab states will lend
buying into it when listening to hyper modern tv				themselves as easily for such accusations.
reports, but what did this work out on the

Democracy

Just how democratic is the Middle East getting?