Transformational Diplomacy in Action

We gather today in momentous and breathtaking times in our country's history, indeed in world history. The American economy continues its strong growth, with 1.9 million jobs created over the past 12 months and the unemployment rate dropping to 4.6 percent nationally. Our country continues to make amazing advances in technology, healthcare, and science. And our fellow citizens are continually amazing us with their achievements in sports, arts, and literature.

We also live in an age in which we as Americans are more closely connected to the world outside our borders than ever before. Technology and global travel put the Far East, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Europe within reach, and the United States within theirs.

This access to information and people enriches us greatly, and it also gives us up-to-date knowledge of social, cultural, and political developments abroad, including developments in the part of the world I work in, the Middle East and North Africa .

What has become abundantly clear in the broader Middle East is that a lack of political, economic, and educational opportunity has created a dangerous and unsustainable status quo. Young people in the vast emerging generation in the region do not have the quality schools and jobs they need to reach their potential. Women are not fully empowered. And people are lacking the voice they deserve in the political process so they can have their rightful stake in the future of their communities.

These conditions — in which too many citizens of the Middle East are deprived of basic freedoms and opportunities — are reflected in what has become a breeding ground for violence and despair. And as we know all too well, not only is this bad for the people of the Middle East , it puts the whole world in danger.

It should not surprise you that this is not our assessment but the assessment of people in the region itself. The most recent United Nations Arab Human Development Report, authored by Arab experts, referred to Arab states as “black holes” and concluded that maintaining the status quo was the “impending disaster scenario.”

This report said the most realistic, effective way to move forward in achieving reforms in the Arab world was to support internal reform efforts with the experience of more established democracies. The experts called for democratic freedoms, economic openness, educational opportunity, and women's empowerment.

The U.S. Department of State and other parts of your government are putting a great deal of energy and resources to support the aspirations of people in the broader Middle East — and to accelerate the urgent reforms identified by people in the region.

This approach represents a different kind of diplomacy, something Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls transformational diplomacy, which as at the heart of our discussion today.

Transformational Diplomacy

What is transformational diplomacy? In Secretary Rice's words, the goal of transformational diplomacy is “to work with our many partners around the world to build and sustain democratic, well-governed states that will respond to the needs of their people — and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system … Transformational diplomacy is rooted in partnership, not paternalism — in doing things with other people, not for them. We seek to use America 's diplomatic power to help foreign citizens to better their own lives, and to build their own nations, and to transform their own futures.”

Since many of the problems in the broader Middle East have largely been identified and extensively documented in places such as the Arab Human Development Report, Secretary Rice has asked us to move beyond assessment and take action. She has asked us to put our best efforts into promoting freedom and opportunity for the people of the Middle East , which means putting our best efforts into supporting the region's community of reformers.

This marks a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East . As President Bush has said, “ 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.”

So we are taking action in tangible ways to work not only bilaterally with governments in the region on reform, but also directly with citizens and civil society through the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative.

Middle East Partnership Initiative

The Middle East Partnership Initiative, or MEPI, has been where the rubber has met the road in terms of implementing the dramatic vision of transformational diplomacy. The initiative provides urgently needed support to reformers across the region who are working to expand freedom in their respective countries.

The initiative is working in four main areas so democracy can spread, education can thrive, economies can grow, and women can be empowered. We see these four areas as inextricably linked, and with each one moving forward at the same time if true reform is going to take hold.

•  Democracy: To support reformers who want a voice in the future of their countries, the U.S. provides assistance to those working to strengthen democratic practices, civil society, independent media, and the rule of law. For example, MEPI trains people in the region on political party building, campaigning, and election monitoring. This results in the success of people such as Fatima Khatari, who was elected to the general committee of the General People's Congress party in Yemen . Fatima said her victory would have been impossible without campaign skills learned in a MEPI program.

•  Women : For freedom to flourish, it must be available to all citizens, so the U.S. supports the right of women to fully participate in society. MEPI programs are supporting women in democracy, women and the law, women's rights and women's economic empowerment. One program created the Arab Women's Legal Network, an association of more than 100 women lawyers and judges from 16 countries across the broader Middle East . The network allows women to exchange expertise and information, promote women as decision makers, provide professional development training and mentoring, and secure women's equal rights under the law.

•  Education : Young people are showing their passion for change in the Middle East, and the U.S. is investing in their hopes for a brighter future. For example, MEPI support has enabled the training of more than 3,000 teachers in civic education, reaching 65,000 students in more than 500 schools in 10 countries. The result is programs such as Project Citizen, which helps young people influence public policy while developing support for democratic values, and Foundations for Democracy, which promotes civic responsibility through the study of concepts key to social and political life: authority, privacy, responsibility and justice.

•  Economic : Economic opportunity helps create an environment in which democracy can thrive, so MEPI is committed to programs that encourage business investment, develop entrepreneurship skills, and enhance the global competitiveness of countries in the Middle East . MEPI funds successful initiatives such as the Middle East Entrepreneur Training (MEET U.S.) to provide business training and networking opportunities to increase entrepreneurial leadership skills for growing companies. MEET U.S. is helping promising executives, managers and entrepreneurs build successful enterprises that create jobs and new opportunities in the Middle East .

Disproving the naysayers who claimed reformers would not work with the United States , we have seen a steady increase in the number of proposals coming from the region, and we have devoted $293 million to
350 programs in 15 countries and the Palestinian territories in four years.

The resulting progress has been real, with the initiative's initial work coinciding with hopeful reforms in the region. There have been unprecedented developments from Morocco to Afghanistan , from Lebanon to Kuwait .

Elections are taking place; women are advising other women on their legal rights; school systems are seeking to empower their children with new reading and analytic skills; and familiarity with open legislative processes is increasingly possible. Civil society groups in Egypt are mobilizing in new and powerful ways to monitor elections and report on irregularities, and a new law in Morocco allowing private radio and TV licenses is opening the door to greater democratic discourse. Theatrical groups present dramas to mixed audiences of men and women explaining reforms in family codes and women's rights.

The public is highly involved in this initiative, another indicator that calls for democratic reform correspond with the aspirations of the people in the region.

Elections, of course, are only one part of the democratic process, best accompanied by robust civil society and the establishment of governing coalitions. But elections are an essential component of democracy, and we take note of 2005 as the year of elections:

•  In Iraq , millions of citizens refuse to surrender to terror the dream of freedom and democracy. Iraq is making steady progress in defeating the terrorists, building democratic institutions, and standing up security forces. In January of 2005, Iraqis elected their government in the first democratic election in over five decades. In October, Iraqis voted and ratified the constitution drafted by that legislature. On December 15, Iraqis bravely went to the polls again to complete the transitional political process.

•  In Lebanon , one million citizens demanded and won their independence from Syrian domination. The first parliamentary elections in a generation free of foreign interference were held last year, and supporters of democracy are working to institute political and economic reforms and re-establish sovereignty in an environment free of intimidation and fear.

•  In September, the people of Egypt turned out for their country's first multi-candidate presidential election. This was an important first step, and even the deeply flawed parliamentary elections in December introduced new levels of political competition and unprecedented election monitoring and reporting by civil society.

•  In Afghanistan , where the first parliamentary elections in over a quarter century were completed in September, millions of citizens are experiencing the benefits of a free country for the first time in their lives.

•  In the Palestinian territories , parliamentary elections were widely hailed as free and fair, with the voters rejecting many corrupt Fatah leaders. Now, the new Palestinian government must live up to its existing international commitments, abandoning terrorism and recognizing Israel .

•  In the Persian Gulf , Kuwaiti women have gained full political rights enabling them to vote and to run for office, and, just weeks ago, Kuwaiti women went to the polls for the first time in their nation's history. Bahraini women voted and ran for office in 2002 elections, and two women are government ministers. In Saudi Arabia , two women were elected to the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry—the country's first female elected officials. Oman and Qatar are slated for parliamentary elections in 2007, and, in both, women are expected to play roles as voters and candidates.

Of course, d ramatic reform is never easy, and it often takes longer than people hope it will. But there is no excuse for backing down or giving up ground when one begins to meet resistance on the path to freedom. Rather, it is when the superficial changes have been made that we have the best opportunity to help reformers in the region move ahead to structural changes that will pave the way to genuine democracy and a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East. The growing community of reformers in the region needs us more now than ever before.

We are not alone in supporting them. Many nations of the world are showing admirable commitment to the cause of freedom and opportunity, and we are happy to be working with them. For example, G-8 and Middle Eastern leaders have come together in meaningful ways to participate in the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative and its resulting Forum for the Future and Foundation for the Future.

The people in this room, many of whom undoubtedly follow foreign affairs closely, know the dynamic times in which we live. And policies and events are unfolding increasingly under the world's gaze. Events happening in the farthest reaches of the globe can essentially be watched in real time, while just a few decades ago, newsreels from abroad took weeks if not months to arrive. Today we have instant news, complete with pictures and sound. History is unfolding before our eyes.

But it is a time for determination and commitment. We can never forget in the modern context that questions of liberty in Beirut , Tunis , and Riyadh are connected to those of freedom in London , Madrid , and New York . World commerce has converged, transportation is faster and more accessible, and information sources and ideas have become global. For good or for bad, our fate is a common one with those who live abroad.

The Middle East is at an historic crossroads. The question is: Will the region choose the path of democracy and reform or will it choose a dangerous and unsustainable status quo?

With serious reform, citizens of the Middle East can enjoy the freedoms and opportunities they deserve. We are unwavering in our belief that people have the right to be free and that freedom promotes peace and prosperity. As President Bush has said, “Our goal is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.”