POMED Notes: “Foreign Policy and Development Structure, Process, Policy: The Drip-by-Drip Erosion of USAID”
November 19th, 2010 by Evan
On Thursday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a discussion titled “Foreign Policy and Development Structure, Process, Policy: The Drip-by-Drip Erosion of USAID.” Jerry Hyman, President of the Hills Program on Governance at CSIS, presented his recent paper on the challenges facing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and the former Chair of the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and Larry Garber, USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa, delivered responses. Dan Runde, Director of the Project on Prosperity and Development at CSIS moderated the discussion.
(To read the full notes, continue below or click here for a pdf copy.)
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Reactions to Obama’s Indonesia Speech
November 10th, 2010 by Jason
Marc Lynch, in response to President Obama’s “well-crafted” speech, writes that in spite of the “litany of complaints” about President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world, he actually deserves praise for much of it. “The administration has stuck with the President’s clear commitment to restoring positive relations with the Muslims of the world despite all the setbacks, when it would have been really easy to give up or change course.” Lynch lists several “quiet accomplishments” including building long-term commitments with a “rising generation of Muslims.” The work of the State Department, National Security Council, and other agencies to support programs that facilitate “jobs, economic opportunity and entrepreneurship, education, science, medicine, and the like,” is of particular importance. Lynch also warns of ” [o]ver-promising and under-delivering.”
Elizabeth Weingarten, writing at the Atlantic, says that the unresolved peace process, the Cordoba mosque controversy, and the threats from a Florida pastor to burn the Quran have “sullied” the clean slate Obama enjoyed after his Cairo speech. “Obama seems to be aware of his increasingly negative image in the Muslim world,” writes Weingarten, and Indonesia “was a fitting place for Obama to reignite support in the Muslim world: He could couch his message in the comfortable rhetoric of hope, and speak to the similarities of the two countries.”
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Palestine: Differing Views on Fayyad
November 8th, 2010 by Jason
Writing at the Huffington Post, Daoud Kuttab lauds the Palestinian Authority (PA) for its focus on educational reform in the West Bank: “Salam Fayyad (the Prime Minister of the PA) […] has worked hard at making education one of his government’s top priorities […] A five-year, well thought out educational plan was designed and implemented. The plan looks at education with a more holistic approach, with serious thought given to the need to augment present programmes with preschool education, and the introduction of new methodologies that focus on critical thinking.” Kuttab explains that a push to raise educational standards will address many of the challenges facing Palestinians today, preparing them to run a state of their own in the future.
Ahmed Moor takes a more critical view of the PA at the Huffington Post, writing that the recent economic success is an “unsustainable bubble economy,” and that “if the Palestinian Authority cannot secure economic growth, and it cannot promote Palestinian institution-building […] and it cannot create a Palestinian state, why does it exist?” Moor goes on to describe how Fayyad and the PA are ineffectual, pointing out that that Fayyad was banned from a celebration in East Jerusalem in honor of a school he helped to secure funding for.
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POMED Notes: “Egypt’s Upcoming Elections: Boycotts, Campaigns, and Monitors”
October 20th, 2010 by Evan
On Tuesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in partnership with Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) hosted a discussion on preparations by opposition parties and domestic electoral monitors for the upcoming Egyptian parliamentary elections. Mahmoud Ali Mohamed, the director of the Egyptian Center for Development and Democratic Studies and member of the Wafd Party Supreme Council, and Wael Nawara, the co-founder and secretary general of the al-Ghad Party, gave presentations, POMED executive director Andrew Albertson delivered a response and Michele Dunne, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment, moderated the event.
(For POMED’s full notes, continue below or click here for the pdf.)
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Yemen: U.S. Aiding “Downward Spiral” on Human Rights?
August 25th, 2010 by Jennifer
Amnesty International issued a statement today arguing that “the Yemeni authorities must stop sacrificing human rights in the name of security.” Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, commented that “an extremely worrying trend has developed where the Yemeni authorities, under pressure from the USA and others to fight al-Qa’ida, and Saudi Arabia to deal with the Huthis, have been citing national security as a pretext to deal with opposition and stifle all criticism.” The statement notes a pattern in Yemen of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced disappearances, and unfair trials of those accused of involvement in Al-Qaeda, Zaidi Shi’a rebels in the north, and Southern Movement activists. The Amnesty document also observes an uptick both in the use of the death penalty as punishment, as well as the use of the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to try critical journalists and political activists. The statement concludes, “It is particularly worrying that states such as Saudi Arabia and the USA are directly or indirectly aiding the Yemeni government in a downward spiral away from previously improving human rights record.”
Posted in Human Rights, Judiciary, Middle Eastern Media, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Uncategorized, Yemen | Comment »
The Link Between Low Taxes and Undemocratic Regimes
August 23rd, 2010 by Farid
Brian Whitaker writes at the Guardian’s Comment is Free that taxes in nations across the Middle East are not only low, but also ineffectively collected by authorities. Whitaker says that among the reasons for the low taxes is the fact that many of these states are “rentier economies where the government has sources of income other than taxes,” such as oil. More strikingly, Whitaker argues that low taxation is keeping undemocratic regimes in power. In simple terms, he points out that “the higher the taxes are the more likely it is that people will demand a say in how the money is spent.” In effect, “high taxes can act as a spur towards democracy and accountable government. Conversely, where taxes are low the pressure for democracy and accountability is usually less,” Whitaker says.
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Egypt: Human Rights Activist Speaks Out
August 11th, 2010 by Farid
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a prominent dissident and human rights activist who recently returned to Egypt after living in exile in the U.S., commented on internal political issues during his first public seminar since his return. Ibrahim said that the Egyptian regime uses the population’s “America complex” in order to stymie democratic progress. Assessing reformist Mohamed ElBaradei, he drew parallels between ElBaradei’s political campaign and President Barack Obama’s, and disagreed with the “charismatic leadership” model, arguing that leadership skills are learned, not innate. Ibrahim indicated his belief that Egyptians have shown progress over the past 50-60 years in overcoming the fear and persecution associated with political participation. Finally, he stressed that the regime should commit to real reform and criticized the Muslim Brotherhood, calling the group self-serving and arguing that they represent a major challenge that must be dealt with.
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Senate Resolution Supports Democracy in Egypt
July 23rd, 2010 by Jennifer
On Tuesday, S.RES.586, “Supporting democracy, human rights, and civil liberties in Egypt,” sponsored by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI), and co-sponsored by Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The resolution calls on Egypt to repeal the Emergency Law; ensure that upcoming elections are “free, fair, transparent, and credible”; “lift legislative restrictions on freedoms of assembly, association, and expression”; and end all arbitary detention, torture, and other forms of harassment.” The resolution also recognizes that “providing unconditional support for governments that do not respect those basic human rights undermines the credibility of the United States,” and calls on the administration to “make respect for basic human rights and democratic freedoms a priority” in bilateral relations with Egypt, while also engaging more extensively in “providing appropriate funding to international and domestic election observers, as well as to civil society organizations.” Furthermore, according to the resolution, organizations carrying out U.S. democracy promotion activities, as well as the nature of the assistance itself, “shall not be subject to the prior approval of the Government of Egypt.”
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POMED Notes: “Afghanistan: Governance and the Civilian Strategy”
July 16th, 2010 by Jennifer
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing yesterday on governance and the civilian strategy in Afghanistan. This was the eleventh installment in a series of hearings on Afghanistan over the past year and a half. The issues of government corruption and institution-building, as well as questions about U.S. goals, benchmarks, and measures of success in civilian programs, featured prominently in the discussion. The Committee—headed by Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and ranking Committee member Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) —requested the testimony of Mr. Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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POMED Notes: “Human Rights and Religious Freedom in Morocco”
June 18th, 2010 by Jennifer
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives held a hearing on human rights and religious freedom in Morocco, in light of a recent wave of deportations of American and foreign citizens under accusations of religious proselytizing. The Commission—headed by Co-Chairman Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) —requested the testimony of five individuals: Katie Zoglin, Senior Program Manager at Freedom House; Michael Cloud, President of Association Nichan; Herman Boonstra, leader of the Village of Hope orphanage; Mr. and Mrs. Eddie and Lynn Padilla, former foster parents at the Village of Hope; and Dr. Sandra Bunn-Livingstone, Esq., Executive Director of Jus Cogens LLC. Senator James M. Inhofe of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rachid (Last name redacted) of Al Hayat Television, also submitted written testimony but did not speak at the hearing.
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Jordan: Parliamentary elections set for November 9
June 16th, 2010 by Jennifer
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan announced on Monday that parliamentary elections will be held on November 9 of this year, following King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein’s decision last November to dissolve parliament in the middle of its four-year term. The elections will be held under a new election law that has received harsh criticism from reformers and activist groups, who claim that it fails to institute any major liberalizing reforms and instead reinforces tribal politics while undercutting national parties.
The law does increase the quota for women’s representation in parliament and also gives more votes to cities with large percentages of Palestinian refugees, a highly sensitive issue for Jordanians, many of whom fear a peace process scenario that could force Jordan to absorb its Palestinian population permanently.
Morten Valbjorn, writing in Foreign Policy today, argues that contrary to recent Western praise for Jordan’s progress in political reform, governance, and transparency, the kingdom is actually less free than it was 20 years ago. He argues that Jordan is an example of a “‘liberalizing autocracy’: always appearing as being in the midst of a promising reform process, but still always an autocracy.” Valbjorn cautions against U.S. and EU enthusiasm for the regime’s democratization program, advising that “such liberalizing autocracies should not be perceived as being a transitory state on the road toward democracy, but rather as a distinct and quite resilient kind of authoritarian regime.”
Freedom House’s most recent annual country report on Jordan characterized the kingdom as “not free.”
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Egypt: Negotiations begin between lawyers and judges
June 16th, 2010 by Jennifer
Negotiations began yesterday between Egyptian lawyers and judges, in an attempt to address the escalating crisis that has gripped the Egyptian legal system for over a week. The problems began when two attorneys were sentenced to 5 years in prison after exchanging slaps with a prosecutor in Tanta, and has since snowballed into a nationwide strike, with over 100,000 lawyers protesting what they view as unfair judiciary persecution of their colleagues.
Ahmed Fathi Sorour, Peoples Assembly Speaker, met with Hamdi Khalifa, President of the Lawyers Syndicate, and is scheduled to meet with Ahmed el-Zend, head of the Judges Club, in hopes of formulating a compromise. Rhetoric has intensified between the two groups, with the Judges Club issuing statements describing lawyers as a “renegade minority and terrorists,” while Khalifa has insisted that Egyptian attorneys “will not waive our request of having our immunity as judges have it [sic], so long as we’re partners in achieving justice.”
Meanwhile, Montasar el-Zayat, member of the committee for defending detained lawyers, warned that lawyers would begin intensifying protests across the country and emphasized the urgent need to reach a solution to the situation.
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Obama Administration Releases its National Security Strategy
May 27th, 2010 by Chanan
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled this afternoon the Obama administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS), a 52 pg. report covering a wide range of issues facing the U.S. from the state of the economy to the challenges of domestic terrorism.
The NY Times‘ David Sanger and Peter Baker point out that this NSS stands in stark contrast to Bush’s 2002 NSS on a number of fronts, including on the right to preemptive strikes, the use of unilateral force and the acknowledgment of burgeoning rival powers. They explain: “Much of the National Security Strategy, which is required by Congress, reads as an argument for a restoration of an older order of reliance on international institutions, updated to confront modern threats.” Newsweek’s Michael Hirsh, however, appears to offer a different interpretation in a blog post entitled, “Obama’s National Security Strategy: Not So Different From Bush’s.” He argues that “it is unmistakable that there are far more similarities than differences between the two National Security Strategies, though each of them marks the advent of an era that is supposedly as distinct from the other as any two periods in U.S. history.”
The report also devotes a section to the importance of promoting democracy and human rights abroad. It tackles numerous elements of this ideal, including the support of women’s rights, recognition of peaceful democratic movements and practicing “principled engagement” with non-democratic regimes. In an apparent dig at Iran, the Obama administration writes that “when our overtures are rebuffed, we must lead the international community in using public and private diplomacy, and drawing on incentives and
disincentives, in an effort to change repressive behavior.”
Foreign Policy’s Will Inboden thinks the report - especially this section - is lacking in substance and grit. “While the NSS rightfully devotes more rhetorical attention to the promotion of human rights and democracy, it unfortunately puts too much emphasis on the U.S. example alone…,” he argues. “What they [international reformers] want is active American advocacy and support — even when that support might cause friction in diplomatic engagement with their own governments.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Human Rights, Multilateralism, Reform, US foreign policy, Uncategorized, Women | 2 Comments »
Iran: Turkey and Brazil’s Challenge to the U.S. Nuclear Game Plan
May 26th, 2010 by Chanan
Ahmet Davutoglu and Celso Amorim, the respective foreign ministers for Turkey and Brazil, took to the op-ed pages of the New York Times today to spell out the rationale for, and importance of, the May 17th nuclear fuel swap deal. In a piece called “Giving Diplomacy a Chance,” the two argue that they are in full support for a nuclear-free world and that any attempt to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon state will only be successful through “result-oriented negotiations.” They explain: “There is only one viable solution to disagreements with Iran over its nuclear program, and that is a negotiated diplomatic solution.”
The day prior, however, Thomas Friedman, expressed his utter disgust for this deal perpetuated by two nascent democracies. “Is there anything uglier,” he asks, “than watching democrats sell out other democrats to a Holocaust-denying, vote-stealing Iranian thug just to tweak the U.S. and show that they, too, can play at the big power table?” Friedman continues that while halting Iran’s budding nuclear program should remain a priority for the international community, it mustn’t get in the way of support for the Green Movement, which he believes is “the most important, self-generated, democracy movement to appear in the Middle East in decades.” He concluded that a democratic Iran with a bomb is a far better scenario than an authoritarian Iran with a bomb.
The Arabist’s Issandr El Amrani finds Friedman to be nothing short of hypocritical. He argues that “the US backs plenty of undemocratic countries for much worse reasons that Brazil’s desire to play a role on the world stage and Turkey doing the same as well as trying to avoid a war on its borders.” He also asserts that he “would rather see a democratic Iran with the bomb rather than an autocratic Iran without it.”
Nonetheless, Foreign Policy’s James Traub thinks the U.S. “overrates the salience of democracy to foreign policy” and that the evolution of independent-minded maturing middle power democracies, such as Turkey and Brazil, is proof that a synonymous type of government won’t necessarily produce synonymous foreign policy interests. This inherent shift away from uni-polarity, writes Graham E. Fuller, should be applauded. “Shouldn’t the world welcome the actions of two significant, responsible, democratic, and rational states to intervene and help check the foolishnesses of decades of US policy?”
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Are Women Losing Power in Turkey?
May 25th, 2010 by Chanan
The answer is yes, according to Soner Cagaptay and Rueya Perincek of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In a one-page graphical analysis replete with bar charts and explanatory captions, Cagaptay and Perincek depict a reality where women have experienced a diminished role in political affairs since the AKP government came to power in 2002. Although women’s share in the Turkish parliament has doubled during this time period, they have also witnessed a drop in holding executive and bureaucratic positions in government. For example, not one woman holds a high-level position in the Justice Ministry. According to the authors, all of these elements account for the fact that women are being pushed out of the workforce. “Under the AKP,” they write, “women are losing power in Turkey.”
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Sen. Russ Feingold Criticizes Administration’s “Uncritical Support” for Egypt
May 25th, 2010 by Chanan
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) penned a letter to President Obama criticizing his administration’s “insufficient” response to Egypt’s decision to extend the highly controversial Emergency Laws and encouraging it to support “fair, free and peaceful” parliamentary and presidential elections in the coming months. To pursue a strong, strategic and sustainable working relationship with the Egyptian government, Feingold stressed that “we must engage more broadly with the Egyptian people and support efforts in the country to push for human rights and democratic reform.” By ignoring these much needed reforms, the U.S. administration risks “undermin[ing] our credibility as champions of political and civil rights and creates tensions, particularly in the Muslim world.” This, he continued, threatens U.S. national security. He concluded with the following advice: “we must be strong and consistent in advancing human rights, good governance and the rule of law while also addressing security and economic concerns. And we should make sure that message is being reinforced by all U.S. government officials and programs in Egypt.”
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Arab Attitudes One Year After Cairo
May 24th, 2010 by Chanan
As the one year anniversary of President Obama’s address in Cairo soon approaches, the folks over at Bitter-Lemons hosted four perspectives to debate the state of Arab public opinion and the United States.
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, writes that the “Obama bounce” in favorability ratings among Arab public opinion is still in evidence, though attitudes toward the president himself are down since its peak during his Cairo address. He explains: “Arab attitudes one year after Cairo are both cautious and mature. They are neither unrealistically hopeful nor excessively deflated. They are still waiting for needed change and open to recognizing it when it comes.”
Mohamed A.B. Yossif, a Cairo-based journalist, stressed “that Arab public opinion toward the US is passing through a transitional phase where new and more complex standards are used to judge US polices in the region.” Whereas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at one time the primary prism through which Arab attitudes toward the U.S. were formed, now millions of Arabs are judging the U.S. based on its support for authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. Many want the U.S. to apply pressure on Arab governments to reform and “a prioritization of democracy promotion on the agenda of Arab citizens.”
David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy cites a number of intriguing findings about the state of Arab opinion toward the U.S., but highlights that perhaps the most striking finding is that “the US is just not that much on people’s minds in the region.” And Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Research, explains the even though Palestinians see the United States as inherently biased toward Israel, they still predominantly support strong U.S. intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine, Public Opinion, Reform, US foreign policy, Uncategorized | Comment »
Obama’s West Point Speech: A Preview of the National Security Strategy?
May 24th, 2010 by Chanan
Several days after President Obama’s commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, pundits from across the political spectrum painted the speech as a preview for the U.S. National Security Strategy, which will be unveiled later this week. According to a piece of analysis by the New York Times‘ Peter Baker, such a strategy will include four main overarching principles: “to build strength abroad by building strength at home through education, clean energy and innovation; to promote “the renewed engagement of our diplomats” and support international development; to rebuild alliances; and to promote human rights and democracy abroad.”
Baker also characterized the speech as a public break with the Bush administration’s “emphasis on unilateral American power and the right to wage pre-emptive war.” Foreign Policy’s Will Inboden, however, thinks that Baker “overshoots” in his analysis. This speech, according to Inboden, actually reflected a structural continuation of the previous administration’s foreign policy. For example, “After spending much of his first year in office downplaying if not ignoring democracy and human rights promotion, he is now making democracy and human rights promotion one of the four pillars of his national security strategy.” In short, based on a variety of different factors “the President Obama of today acts and sounds considerably different than the one elected in November 2008.”
Nonetheless, the National Review’s Arthur Herman takes issue with Obama’s speech for two reasons: one, Obama appears to be sacrificing American military power for American diplomacy and multilateral institutions. Second, unlike other former presidents that advocated visions of a new world order following foreign policy successes (such as WWI and WWII), this president is “pushing his new multilateral “international order” hot on the heels of two important failures — in Iran and North Korea.” The Atlantic’s James Fallows sees the historical comparisons quite differently. He sees strong similarities with President Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address in 1960, where he advocated the importance of disarmament and diplomacy. In this respect, Fallows believed that Obama’s address “is a return to the best and most sustainable tradition of post-World War II American foreign policy.” He also, for the record, equates Obama’s governing ideology with “the intellectual father Obama doesn’t talk about” — Jimmy Carter.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Multilateralism, US foreign policy, US politics, Uncategorized | Comment »
Turkey: FM Ahmet Davutoglu and the Principles of Turkish Foreign Policy
May 21st, 2010 by Chanan
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu capped off a high-profile week of diplomatic engagement and summitry with an article in Foreign Policy outlining his country’s newfound principled approach to foreign affairs and Turkey’s role in the world. In a post-Cold War era devoid of new global political or legal systems concomitant with the challenges of a new world order, the solutions to any potential or existing problems must be imagined and implemented by nation-states themselves. “In this new world, Turkey is playing an increasingly central role in promoting international security and prosperity,” he wrote.
Davutoglu also articulated the methodological and operational principles that guide Turkey’s foreign policy, including the oft-discussed concept of zero problems toward neighbors as well as ensuring a balance between democracy and security. “The legitimacy of any political regime comes from its ability to provide security and freedom together to its citizens; this security should not be at the expense of freedoms and human rights in the country.” He also consistently expressed his belief that Turkey is a “mature democracy” and that Turkey will continue to “deepen and strengthen its democracy” in the coming era.
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Is Obama Ignoring Democracy Promotion to Pursue an anti-Bush Agenda?
May 14th, 2010 by Chanan
So asks James Traub in his weekly column on ForeignPolicy.com. The reality, he asserts, is that “Arab regimes’ intransigence on matters of democracy and human rights poses the same problem for President Barack Obama as it did for George W. Bush…” Leaders of countries throughout the Middle East, such as Jordan and Egypt, are tightening the screws on civil society organizations, NGOs and different media outlets. But in his desire “to offer a fresh start” based on the core tenets of his speech in Cairo - “mutual respect, mutual interests, and mutual responsibility” - Obama may be a bit too reluctant to offer criticism as well. Likewise, although the administration is producing a number of noble initiatives that creates partnerships between the U.S. and the Muslim world, such as his recent Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, it may not be enough to change the democratic nature of the region. “One of the few things Washington can do,” he suggests, “is to push, privately and publicly, to open up the space granted to political parties, NGOs, and, yes, entrepreneurs. Sometimes it matters to be seen doing the right thing, even if it doesn’t work.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Freedom, Jordan, US foreign policy, Uncategorized | Comment »
