Press Release: To Promote Democracy in the Middle East, Integrating Multiple Policy Goals is Key

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 30, 2004
CONTACT: Cara Santos Pianesi, csantos@ceip.org, 202/939-2211

In the newest publication from the Carnegie Endowment, Michele Dunne argues that the United States can promote democracy in the Middle East if it concentrates on reconciling the diverse U.S. interests in the region—such as counter-terrorism, Arab-Israeli peace, and a secure oil supply—without sacrificing one part of the policy agenda for another. Though difficult, this can be accomplished if the United States becomes more alert to how different goals reinforce each other, recognizes the limits of a regional approach (such as the current Broader Middle East and North Africa initiative) and creates practical, country-by-country approaches.

To help policymakers, practitioners, and diplomats move in that direction, the 18-year veteran of the State Department has written Integrating Democracy Promotion into U.S. Middle East Policy. The Carnegie Paper is a democracy promoter’s “toolbox,” outlining the necessary components of a successful regional strategy, offering implementation advice, and proposing steps toward creating individual country approaches. Dunne also illustrates a successful country strategy, using Egypt as an example. Access Integrating Democracy Promotion into U.S. Middle East Policy at www.CarnegieEndowment.org/democracy.

“The United States really can promote regional peace and cooperation on security while it promotes internal reform, because Arab governments want to work with us when it is in their best interest, even if they are annoyed by calls for reform. We should also keep promoting reform no matter what happens in Iraq. Though many Arabs reject U.S. moral authority as a messenger of freedom, they accept the message that change is badly needed,” Dunne argues.

Integrating Democracy Promotion into U.S. Middle East Policy is the latest publication in the Middle East Series from the Endowment’s Middle East Political Reform Initiative (MEPRI). The full series is available at www.ceip.org/mepripubs. MEPRI offers analysis and practical experience on whether and how political reform could occur in the Arab world and what the United States and other external actors can do to encourage such change.

Michele Dunne, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment, is a visiting lecturer at Georgetown University. She served in the Department of State on assignments including the National Security Council Staff, the Secretary of State’s Planning Staff, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem.
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