Us Democracy Promotion In The Middle East

The US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were packaged as democracy promotion, as heralding the beginning of a new phase in the politics of the Middle East when democracy would replace authoritarian regimes. Many of these authoritarian regimes, however, were sustained by US support.

US Democracy Promotion in the Middle East seeks to explore the changes in US strategy towards democracy promotion in the Middle East during the Clinton and Bush administrations, with a particular focus on Egypt, Iraq and Kuwait. At a time of regional turmoil and political reform, the topic of democracy promotion has never been more pertinent. We are witnessing the emergence of popular movements that are challenging authoritarian governments long supported by the US. Tracing the contours of the ongoing transition in US policy in the Middle East, this book critically deconstructs the strategy of democracy promotion on both a theoretical and empirical level. By formulating and applying an analytical framework derived from a Gramscian approach, Markakis seeks to propose a re-evaluation of what US foreign policy in the Middle East truly constitutes, critiquing both the ideological foundations of the strategy as well as the implementation. This book will provide a solid foundation for the analysis of US policy and in particular the strategy of democracy promotion at this time of momentous transition across the region.

The United States faces no greater challenge today than successfully fulfilling its new ambition of helping bring about a democratic transformation of the Middle East. Uncharted Journey contributes a wealth of concise, illuminating insights on this subject, drawing on the contributors' deep knowledge of Arab politics and their substantial experience with democracy-building in other parts of the world. The essays in part one vividly dissect the state of Arab politics today, including an up-to-date examination of the political shock wave in the region produced by the invasion of Iraq. Part two and three set out a provocative exploration of the possible elements of a democracy promotion strategy for the region. The contributors identify potential false steps as well as a productive way forward, avoiding the twin shoals of either reflexive pessimism in the face of the daunting obstacles to Arab democratization or an unrealistic optimism that fails to take into account the region's political complexities. Contributors include Eva Bellin (Hunter College), Daniel Brumberg (Carnegie Endowment), Thomas Carothers (Carnegie Endowment), Michele Dunne (Georgetown University), Graham Fuller, Amy Hawthorne (Carnegie Endowment), Marina Ottaway (Carnegie Endowment), and Richard Youngs (Foreign Policy Centre).

Since the end of the Cold War, European security concerns have focused increasingly on the potential for instability on Europe's southern flank. In 1995, the European Union developed a framework for cooperation with the southern Mediterranean nations. These efforts have included some relatively ineffective programs to promote democracy in the region. In the aftermath of 9/11, the goal of encouraging the development of Middle East democracy has acquired greater urgency, not least in the eyes of the United States, which has bolstered its own efforts to spur democratic reform.

Scientific Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, , course: American Studies, language: English, abstract: The supercilious idea of the United States that, by toppling Saddam Hussein, can rapidly democratize Iraq and unleash a democratic tsunami in the Middle East, has metamorphosed into an apocalypse that swept the core nations of the region. Chaos and destruction became the “manifest destiny” of these peoples and democracy became a dangerous fantasy. The United States' record of building democracy after invading other countries is mixed at best and the Bush administration’s commitment to state-building efforts in Iraq is doubtful. The United States have failed at developing democracy in the Middle East – which has led to increased instability and anarchy – because U.S. foreign policy has misunderstood the formula for building democracy in the region. The United States is just the latest Western nation to fail in the Middle East. The repercussions of a miscalculated intervention in Iraq were likely to complicate the spread of democracy in the Middle East rather than to promote it. Instead of developing democratic governments in the region the US intervention paved the way for the emergence of more oppressive radical groups that hijacked the reins of power from the legitimate governments and anguished peoples’ lives through acts of terror and bullying. The new paradox that Bush’s neoconservative government created in Iraq and the Middle East has turned a lofty project of democratization into a disaster of destruction. While ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has seized core leadership positions in Syria, Iraq and other places, it is putting in practice the larger tripartite plan of the disintegration of the Middle East. In the process of establishing the Islamic Caliphate, ISIL is sowing the seeds of its own destruction as the U.S. contemplates increased military action in the Middle East, specifically authorization of military force in Syria. However, if the US desires to preserve American preferential treatment in the region it should reconsider the policies that created so much anarchy.

Following September 11, 2001, democracy promotion in the Arab world became a top priority for U.S. national security. This dissertation goes beyond simplistic condemnations of the Bush administration's so-called "imperialistic policies" and highlights the complexities, competing interests, and inherent challenges of U.S. democracy promotion in a Middle Eastern context. An understanding of how U.S. policy towards the Middle East evolved after 9/11 is important because we continue to grapple with many related issues today, namely: whether and how to promote democracy in the Middle East, whether democratization is the best way to fight terrorism, how to balance short- and long-term security interests, how to engage with Islamic extremists, and the overall repercussions of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Dissertation.