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U.S.
Middle East Experts Discuss Democracy In Muslim World
By
Neveen A. Salem, IOL Washington Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, March 11 (IslamOnline) - Leading Middle East academics
from across the United States gathered Monday in Washington D.C. to
discuss what they termed "Islamism, Democracy and Autocracy:
The Post 9/11 Debate."
Much of the discussion at the conference, sponsored by the
International Forum for Democratic Studies, focused on critiquing
Muslim/Arab regimes for failing to promote "democracy" in
their countries.
However, the main thrust of the dialogue was focused on redeveloping
Middle East studies and helping academia address Islam and democracy
in a post-September 11th world.
The speakers, which included Ibrahim Karawan, director of the Middle
East Center at the University of Utah, stressed the need to hold
Arab/Muslim governments accountable for the stagnation of political
reform in their countries, specifically citing the Egyptian
government as one of the worst impeders of political development.
"We need to adapt Middle East studies to become less
U.S.-centered," argues Karawan, an Egyptian scholar.
"Lots of things about September 11, the crisis of democracy,
'fundamentalism', and Saddam Hussein's hold on power have all been
said to be a result of U.S. hegemonic designs on desire for power.
"But looking at it this way is dangerous in that it absolves
local actors [in Muslim/Arab countries] of responsibility."
Steven Heydemann, associate professor of Middle East Studies at
Columbia University in New York and program director of Philanthropy
and the Non-Profit Sector and the Social Science Research Council,
also went on to say that Arab/Muslim regimes have also used the
excuse of economic despair to further entrench their own
"authoritarian regimes."
"The two [political and economic reform] are not
interdependent," Heydemann stated. "Research findings
reflect how regimes have been effective in exploiting economic
[instability] in order to justify their own political movements, to
further autocracies and autocratic regimes and to reassert
repression"
Graham Fuller, senior political consultant at RAND Corporation in
Washington, DC, and former Vice-Chairman of the National
Intelligence Council at CIA, did go on to say, however, that
academia needs to ask more "grand" questions regarding the
state of democracy and Islamic movements in the Middle East.
"There are harder questions that the academic world must
ask…like, 'What is the impact of the war on terrorism?"
Questioning what results U.S. foreign policy plays in the fostering
of "less moderate Islamist movements", Fuller warned,
"The hardliners [in the U.S.] say, 'We have done it [the war]
and will not suffer any consequences.'
"However, I will be the first to admit that those of us, who
feel that there are limits to this war, were wrong when we said that
we would not suffer immediate consequences. Yes, some very serious
things have taken place, but we do not know what, when, how and
where these consequences will present themselves."
Asked by IslamOnline whether Middle East studies in the U.S. will
now begin to focus on how U.S. foreign policy and desire to further
its own political and economic interests play a role in the
repression of Arabs/Muslims by their governments, Vicki Langhor -
assistant professor of political science at the College of the Holy
Cross - said that there does need to be an assessment of how U.S.
support of "autocratic regimes" in order to further its
own interests, e.g. to control market economies or rally U.S.
support for the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Gulf War, or the
"war on terror" plays a role in suppressing democracy and
political reform.
Samer Shehata, professor of Arab Studies at Georgetown University,
also supported the statement, asserting that repression, autocracy
and a lack of democracy in the Muslim world is not a failure of
Middle East studies, but of U.S. foreign policy.
He also went on to say that he was disturbed by the use of Islam as
a monolithic entity.
"We cannot talk about Islam as this thing that is the same
across the board. Therefore, need not to discuss 'Islam' but
'Islamic movements.'"
Langhor also concluded by referring back to IslamOnline's question
saying, "The interests of the U.S. need to be addressed.
American government policy needs to be changed in order to secure
American interests and safety.
"This is not to say that 9/11 is a result of U.S. foreign
policy, but the U.S. must address that there are consequences to
some of its policies."
Daniel Brumberg, associate professor of government at Georgetown
University, also addressed the issue of U.S. foreign policy and its
role in political reform in Arab/Muslim countries, saying, "The
U.S. can [take responsibility] as there are changes on the ground
[in Arab/Muslim] countries that we can help foster and support. But
regimes [U.S. and Arab/Muslim] will always move towards their
interests."
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