In the evolving debate on reforms, Arab intellectuals and common people continue to emphasise the need for culture and region-specific democratic reforms in the Middle East, and strongly oppose the imposition of Western models.

Highlighting the difficulty of implementing a Western tailor-made process without heeding local and regional circumstances, Omro Hamzawi, senior fellow at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: “The availability of a democratic model that can be exported everywhere has no moral credibility because of the US disasters in Iraq.” “Democracy,” he said, “is a popular demand in some countries but not so in the Gulf region as the people don’t suffer severe economic problems and have different concerns.”

Stated the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, at a conference organised by the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, earlier this month: “The more we try to find home grown solutions for regional crises, while avoiding the image of reforming under foreign pressure, the more successful we will be in achieving reforms and realistic policies.” Suggesting areas that require immediate focus, he said, “Domestically, there should be a way to effectively implement a policy of modernisation and combat social problems such as poverty and illiteracy, while embarking on a path towards democratisation.”

While the reforms debate is linked to the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Iraq is now increasingly cited as an example of how ‘foreign’ solutions are not suited for the region. Stating that the war in Iraq and the US pressures on the Middle East countries were having a negative impact, Bourhan Ghalioun, director of the Paris-based Centre for Contemporary Oriental Studies at the Sorbonne University, said, “Since the US administration came up with its plan to promote democracy in the Middle East and to stir economic development to encounter the ‘culture’ that breeds terrorism, the administration made deadly mistakes because it linked its project with protecting Israeli interests.”

Even citizens believe that, while new ideas must be considered, local cultural and social conditions must be at the forefront while conceptualising reforms. Amer Moustafa, an Arab working in an oil company, said, “Democracy will be successful only if it takes our culture into account.” Some experts insist that a combination of Western ideals and internal reforms would achieve the right balance. Dawood Al-Azdi, an academic, says Arab nations should cooperate with the West rather than getting involved in conflict.

Ebrahim Guider, director general of the Cairo-based Arab Labour Organisation, said Arabs also need to achieve economic development to overcome the problem of rising unemployment. “It is a time bomb that might explode at any time. The problem lies with corrupt governments, which are hindering the integration of Arab countries,” he said. — IPS