Commentary
As Iran defends its interests in the region and its regime’s survival, it may push Hezbollah into the abyss.
Michael Young
REQUIRED IMAGE
Paper
Legalism Sans Frontières?: U.S. Rule-of-Law Aid in the Arab World
Arabs indisputably desire more predictable, responsive, and fair laws, even as the Middle East presents acute challenges to rule-of-law reform. To achieve the most success, the United States should focus less on the performance of courts and concentrate on building a broad social understanding of legal rights and respect for the law’s authority.
By David M. Mednicoff
Published on Sep 12, 2005
Summary
Arabs indisputably desire more predictable, responsive, and fair laws, even as the Middle East presents acute challenges to rule-of-law reform. David M. Mednicoff’s Carnegie Paper argues that to achieve the most success, the United States should focus less on the performance of courts and concentrate on building a broad social understanding of legal rights and respect for the law’s authority. Law school curriculum enhancement, funding of independent local media projects that provide information about law, and collaboration with indigenous human rights groups would help advance these long-term goals of rule-of-law reform.
Legalism Sans Frontieres? U.S. Rule of Law Aid in the Arab World is the latest paper in the Carnegie Endowment’s Rule of Law Series, which provides analyses by experts on rule-of-law development about key questions in the field.
Click on the link above for the full text of this Carnegie Paper.
About the Author
David M. Mednicoff is assistant professor in the Department of Legal Studies and the Center of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
A limited number of print copies are available.
Request a copy
About the Author
David M. Mednicoff
North AmericaUnited StatesMiddle EastIranIsraelEgyptIraqPolitical ReformDemocracyEconomyForeign Policy
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
- Axis of Resistance or Suicide?
- Can the Gulf Cooperation Council Transcend Its Divisions?Article
Without structural reform, the organization, which is racked by internal rivalries, risks sliding into irrelevance.
Hesham Alghannam
- U.S. Aims in Iran Extend Beyond Nuclear IssuesCommentary
Because of this, the costs and risks of an attack merit far more public scrutiny than they are receiving.
Nicole Grajewski
- The Jamaa al-Islamiyya at a CrossroadsCommentary
The organization is under U.S. sanctions, caught between a need to change and a refusal to do so.
Mohamad Fawaz
- Iran and the New Geopolitical MomentCommentary
A coalition of states is seeking to avert a U.S. attack, and Israel is in the forefront of their mind.
Michael Young
