Reform in the Middle East: A Role for the U.S.

Introduction – Context for this Meeting and Forward Momentum

As this audience is well aware, there is a vibrant conversation on reform taking place throughout the Middle East and North Africa. This conversation was brought center stage by the landmark Arab Human Development Reports, and recognized by your governments at the Arab League summit in Tunis, and amplified by your civil society colleagues in meetings in Alexandria, Sanaa, Aqaba, Istanbul, Beirut, and most recently in New York and Rabat, as part of the Forum for the Future and the G-8’s Broader Middle East and North Africa initiative.

Alexandria, Beirut, Rabat . . . these were good and productive meetings; in some cases they were historic. Your colleagues and in fact some of you in this room, came together for in some cases what was the first time to speak publicly about the kind of reforms that you seek for your own countries. You’ve spoken about the importance of political choice and human rights, transparency and laws that enable opportunity and innovation, the creation of educational systems that produce skilled graduates ready to enter the work force, and most notably the full political and economic participation of all of society’s members – and here I am directly referring to women.

If we take a step back, it’s really rather startling to consider the momentum for action that you have generated with these discussions and meetings. There was a time five, 10, 15 years ago and more, where this discourse was impossible. The environment in many of your home countries did not allow it, and speaking frankly, my government was not in a position to prioritize these issues that we hold so close to our hearts, which really are the essence of our ideals. Whether due to superpower rivalry, a mistaken notion that stability bred by dictatorial systems would lead to lasting security, or just the relative importance of other interests such as energy security, we somehow lost touch with our most important objective.

In the President’s words, “Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe -- because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. . . . it would be reckless to accept the status quo.”

In the post 9-11 world, it is clear that we cannot afford to take the status quo for granted. Reforms must be undertaken with an eye not just for the problems of today, but with awareness for the challenges of tomorrow. Political systems that fail to support the aspirations of their people will become brittle and eventually collapse. Systems characterized by an absence of political choice, transparent governance, economic opportunities, and personal freedoms are incubators for discontent and extremism. If we have learned one thing from that tragic day on September 11, 2001, it is that the actions of extremists not only impact your lives and your communities, but all of our lives, our choices, our liberty, and our security.

In our world today, questions of liberty in Beirut, Tunis, and Riyadh are connected to those of freedom in London, Paris, and New York. We have always been united together by human ideals, shared values that transcend social or religious difference. But since World War II, our economies have converged and the sources that we turn to for information and new ideas have become global. For good or for bad, our fate is a common one and we are bound together; so we seek the good and we choose to hope and work towards a better future.

President Bush has given voice to the hopes that bring us together in this room. Most recently, in his 2nd inaugural address, President Bush declared, that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. . . . Our goal is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.”

Tyranny has ended in Iraq. While Iraqis have yet to complete the hard work of creating a participatory government that secures the liberty of its people, they have put an end to the filling of torture chambers and mass graves. The dictator and his cronies are out, but it’s not just a change of leaders that is important. The key is to build in this void where absolute power once reigned, the pillars and statutes of democracy -- to reform the system. We have already witnessed Iraqis holding historical elections; we now look forward to the flourishing of transparent government, civic participation, and the rule of law.

The U.S. Role – Supporting Reform

The United States has entered this struggle for reform to support the growing number of voices in the region—in both government and civil society—calling for change. It is clear that we, the U.S. government and the American people cannot lead this charge. In constructing a U.S. policy framework to support reforms that meet regional requests and needs, we understood that change imposed from the outside would have no chance of conferring lasting benefits. We agree that each country in the region is unique and at different stages of political, economic, and social development.

Moreover, supporting reform efforts is certainly not a substitute for our other priorities in the region; rather it is part of a broader regional policy. The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the establishment of a free, peaceful, and democratic Palestinian state alongside Israel, and the rebuilding of Iraq--an Iraq that is both free and secure--are all essential to the stability of the region. We are fully committed to pursuing each of these goals with determination and vigor, just as we are committed to supporting regional reform efforts. Some may disagree with aspects of our broader policy, but we are all convinced that there is neither a substitute nor an alternative to freedom, equality, and human decency. Those shared ideals are the base on which we must build together.

Now, when we speak of roles, it is with this shared vision and under this umbrella of support that we must chart a course forward. Whether government officials or citizens of civil society, you will act in accordance with the interests of your peoples, and we will support you in this endeavor to expand opportunity, freedom and democracy. We can extend support to your efforts on two levels: through our government-to-government policy dialogue and through bi-lateral assistance and reform leadership programs.

Policy Dialogue and BMENA

Our policy dialogue takes different forms. At times, such as with the detention of Ayman Nour, leader of the al-Ghad party in Egypt, we express our views publicly. In other instances we support reformers through private but frank and direct conversations with our counterparts in your governments. Just as there is no uniform approach to reform in every country, we do not have a template that we apply for each case in every country.

Another mechanism by which we advance the government-to-government policy dialogue on reform is through the Forum for the Future, the engine that powers the G-8’s Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative. Drawing on the experiences of multilateral efforts in other regions, such as in Central Europe after Cold War as well as in Asia and with the Euro-Med Partnership, the Forum for the Future is a multilateral approach that has brought together regional and G-8 Foreign, Economic, and other Ministers for an on-going dialogue on democracy, rule of law, human rights, open market economy reforms, and educational reform. Business and civil society leaders participate in parallel dialogues.

The G-8 was very mindful of the experience our European and regional partners bring to such dialogue, an in particular, the Euro-Med partnership of the Barcelona Process. The goal of the G-8, currently led by the U.K., is not to duplicate these efforts, but to complement them. And the Forum does that. It enables deeper coordination with our allies, who currently are undertaking their own programs, and this coordination will yield greater benefits for local reformers across the region. The Forum first convened in Rabat last December and our next meeting will take place in Bahrain this fall.

The BMENA initiative is a true partnership in that we (and our G-8 counterparts) have joined with regional leaders in Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Turkey as well as international institutions like the IFC and CGAP, to sponsor seven initiatives designed to increase the opportunities for the people of the region. These initiatives include a microfinance project, a facility to expand financing SMEs, a literacy campaign, entrepreneurial and vocational training, and a task force on investment. Reform begins by implementing programs such as these that have a measurable impact on ordinary people’s lives, helping people fulfill their aspirations. In this sense, BMENA is a structure and a dialogue by which we can support your efforts in two ways, through the multilateral policy dialogue and through joint programming.

Bilateral Approach: MEPI and Programming

Our primary bi-lateral program to support reform in the Middle East and North Africa is the Middle East Partnership Initiative. Launched more than two years ago, MEPI links the President’s vision for democracy and freedom to our policy dialogue with Middle East governments and to our larger assistance programs operated by USAID in the region. Similar to BMENA, the focus of MEPI’s programming is to support expansion of political opportunity, democracy, economic and education reform, and the empowerment of women.

Through our bi-lateral programming, we are able to respond more quickly to distinct opportunities and have greater flexibility to tailor programs to the individual challenges faced by each country. We also have the flexibility to craft different kinds of public-private partnerships. For example, with the Jordan Education Initiative program, we are partnering with both the Jordanian Ministry of Education and Cisco Learning to offer Jordanians cutting edge on-line curricula.

Political Pillar Programming

MEPI funds political, economic, education and women’s empowerment programming, and I’d be happy to answer your questions later about any of these areas. But today, especially in light of the historic moment we are witnessing in Iraq, the Palestinian territories, and Lebanon, I would like to tell you more about what MEPI is doing in the area of political reform.

MEPI’s emphasis is on strengthening freedoms, the democratic process, and good governance. As I’ve traveled throughout the region, I’ve found that on a popular level many equate the adoption of democracy to the holding of elections. While MEPI is providing assistance with elections in seven countries, and the recent elections in both Iraq and Afghanistan are reasons for hope, democracy—as you know—entails much more.

Building democracy involves supporting the rule of law, strengthening civil society, fostering the concepts of citizenship and participation for all, and offering specific skills trainings to improve governance and ensure an independent media. MEPI programs supporting political reform efforts across the region reflect these priorities. We are already seeing a great deal of activity and progress. For instance, to strengthen the Rule of Law, we have completed legal system assessments in four countries, are offering programs in judicial training and alternative dispute resolution across the region, and are supporting the formation of a Middle East Justice Institute that will offer judicial training, create an Arab Judges Union, and develop a resource center.

The MEPI small grants program has been instrumental in supporting the reform efforts of civil society throughout the region. This past year, we awarded 54 small grants to 15 different countries that totaled more than $1.2 million. Many of these grants went directly to local NGOs to support capacity building or specific seminars or workshops. For instance, in the West Bank, a MEPI small grant supported The Association for Women’s Committees for Social Work’s campaign to increase women’s participation in public life. Eight participants in AWCSW’s program were elected in the municipal elections of this past December.
As for building and integrating the concepts of citizenship and participation, MEPI is working with Ministries of Education and is supporting the Arab Civitas program – civic education for Arab youth – in eight MENA countries. Through Civitas young people are taking ownership of their public space and are participating in the development of their communities.

When we speak of participation though, our priority is the participation of women in all forms of public life – be it the political world or the work force. MEPI has sponsored advocacy campaigns on behalf of women’s legal rights as well as a legal education campaign; we just convened the first meeting of the Arab Women’s Legal Network in Amman a couple of weeks ago and MEPI is funding a women’s campaign school to train electoral candidates in the Levant in a few weeks. Over the last two years we convened similar campaign schools in Tunisia and Qatar that have helped women become more active in political life.

We aren’t just training women candidates and legal professionals though. MEPI is offering training to parliamentarians, and supporting the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute programs to strengthen political parties and better governance in 10 MENA countries. To strengthen media, we are both training journalists and supporting the production of independent media programs.

Conclusion

Together, through these kinds of programs and initiatives, we will try to meet the human development goals outlined by citizens of the region and address the challenges of political openness, economic competitiveness, freedom, and social justice. We understand that reform means very difficult changes that will not take place overnight and in fact will almost certainly require sustained commitment over a generation.

And that commitment and our hard work together today and in the days and years to come will pay off. Democracy and reform will make the region free, stronger, and more prosperous. Promoting reform ensures a better and more secure future for both the people of the Middle East and North Africa and of the broader international community.