US launches plot to advance ''democracy'' in Middle East
uploaded 09 Feb 2004The US administration has launched a new plan to promote "democracy" in the "greater Middle East" that will adapt a model used to press for freedoms in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, according to the Washington Post.
In its Monday edition, the Post, quoting US figures, said high-ranking White House and State Department officials have begun talks with key European allies regarding a "master plan" to be put forward this summer at summits of the Group of Eight nations, NATO allies and the European Union [EU].
With international support, Washington then hopes to win commitments of action from Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, the paper said.
"It's a sweeping change in the way we approach the Middle East," said a top State Department official. "We hope to roll out some of the principles for reform in talks with the Europeans over the next few weeks, with specific ideas of how to support them."
Specific details are still being established. However, the initiative, scheduled to be announced at the G-8 summit hosted by President Bush in Georgia in June, would call for Arab and South Asian governments to adopt major political reforms, be held accountable on human rights - especially women's empowerment - and introduce economic reforms, the paper added, citing unnamed US and European officials.
As incentives for the targeted countries to cooperate, Western nations would offer to expand political engagement, increase aid, facilitate membership in the World Trade Organization and foster security arrangements, possibly some equivalent of the Partnership for Peace with former Eastern Bloc countries, the Post further said. Meanwhile, US Vice President Cheney first hinted at the initiative last month during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. "Our forward strategy for freedom commits us to support those who work and sacrifice for reform across the greater Middle East," he said. "We call upon our democratic friends and allies everywhere, and in Europe in particular, to join us in this effort."
According to the report, the American approach is loosely modeled on the 1975 Helsinki accords signed by 35 nations, including the United States, the Soviet Union and almost all European countries.
Unlike Helsinki, however, the US administration's "Greater Middle East Initiative" seeks to avoid setting up committees and structures to strictly monitor progress and issue report cards, US officials said. It also seeks to avoid "appearing to dictate" to the Islamic world, the paper said.
"The idea is not to come out with proposals that say, 'This is how the West thinks you guys should live,'" a senior administration official said.
"This can't be seen as telling these guys what to do. That won't work. It is instead about saying, 'We hear voices in the greater Middle East region who want democracy and reform, and here are the things we can do to support them.'"
Source: AFP
