Summary:
there are many obstacle that the U.S is going to face when promoting democracy in the Middle East. These are problems such as the compatibility of Islamic law and democracy, which connects to the issue of women's rights, and there is always the problem of how to go about this process. Most of these problems are going to have to be overcome primarily in the Arab world and in the minds of the Arab people.
For the past few years, "the Middle East's potential democratic evolution is the subject of a rapidly growing number of meetings, conferences, and discussions in both governmental and nongovernmental circles" (3). If the Middle East is capable of taking on this change is the question. Another issue to question is the compatibility of democracy and Islamism. One of the most recent campaigns for promoting democracy is for women's rights. This is one of the biggest and most focused upon campaigns going on at this time. A greater question than all of these is how are these changes going to be introduced and followed through and by who.
"Are Islam and Democracy compatible"" (37) A question only time can answer. Graham Fuller states that he is " optimistic about the long term strength" of the trend that democracy and political Islam are "potentially quite compatible" (37) The problem is that many argue that the Islamic laws cannot coincide with democracy; The Islamic followers must go by these laws, there can be no argument. This is a problem with any religion. But the Muslims want a change. This is what makes a difference. Fuller says that "Both Protestant and Catholic states in the west, by different paths, have evolved forms of democratic practice that defy any theoretical considerations" (39) The top three problems that stand in the way of democracy in the Arab states are oil, income Levels, and Nature of the Arab state. These problems will be the biggest obstacles to overcome when promoting democracy in the Middle East.
The women's right's in the Middle East has been an ongoing topic of discussion all around the world. The U.S has now set up a campaign " .. to modernize and democratize the Arab world" (115) and this is it's major focal point. The Arab women of today face problems like not having "equal rights, and opportunities with men" (117). Ottaway also says that many Arab intellectuals think that this is one of the biggest reasons causing the Arab world to be so far behind. This is yet another obstacle to overcome when you think about democracy in the Arab world.
The September 11 attacks on the United States gave a jump to the strategy that the U.S would make to promote democracy into the Middle East. There has been so many ideas for making this tremendous change take polace but these ideas so far donnot connect and help the Arab people with the problems that they face everyday. These problems are, .".women's rights, bolstering civil society, revitalizing education, fostering good governance, strengthening the rule of law, supporting decentralization, and so forth"(194)
To conclude, there are many obstacle that the U.S is going to face when promoting democracy in the Middle East. These are problems such as the compatibility of Islamic law and democracy, which connects to the issue of women's rights, and there is always the problem of how to go about this process. Most of these problems are going to have to be overcome primarily in the Arab world and in the minds of the Arab people.
This is the complete article, containing 514 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
