The purpose of this blog is to provide a platform for current analysis of Middle Eastern politics and American foreign policy in the Middle East. More specifically, I will focus my commentary on the issues of political reform, democracy promotion, and human rights in the Arab world.
In most matters, I advocate strongly for democratization in the Middle East, and for a shift in American foreign policy to more assertively support democratic change in the region. I argue for democratic reform because governments of the Middle East have failed for decades to provide adequate services to their people, and at this time the costs of continued autocracy far outweigh its benefits. Lacking popular legitimacy, regimes have held on to power by repressing their populations, constructing inefficient networks of economic patronage, and diverting attention from their own shortcomings and abuses of power with false rhetoric and media censorship. Autocracies prevail throughout the Arab world not because they are able to govern effectively, but because they have become very good at maintaining just enough control over their populations to continue in power, while their societies stagnate and their people become ever more desperate.
Over a generation of corrupt, incompetent, abusive governance has created a multitude of negative consequences. Among these are dismally high levels of unemployment, religious extremism, sectarian divisions, poverty, and social decline. Today, the people living under these despotic regimes are clamoring for a change that will allow them a voice in their own governance. The fall of the regime of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia is the strongest of many signs over the past decade that Arab publics have no faith in their leaders to provide even the most basic freedoms and social services.
While Tunisia's popular revolt is extraordinary in several important ways, it is crucial to realize that in many Middle Eastern countries revolt and regime change are the only options available to people who are not content with the performance of their leaders. Given the widespread resentment of autocrats throughout the region, one should expect more upheavals like that of Tunisia. In fact, if conditions are allowed to deteriorate as they have been, social unrest in the Arab world will become more dangerous, not just to the welfare of Arab states but to the security of the United States.
If American policymakers wish to retain the regional and global hegemony of the United States, democratization in the Middle East is vital to American interests, and democracy promotion should be an important component of U.S. foreign policy. As events continue to develop in the Middle East, I will write on this blog to discuss their effect on the prospects of democratization and on the relevance of democracy promotion for American interests. I will approach these questions from a regional perspective, but I will also discuss the internal politics of individual states. Furthermore, I will continue to reassess and adjust my perspective -- as variables change, so should conclusions.
One major problem in the policy community is the tendency to adopt a narrow devotion to a specific perspective. Analysts and politicians alike often prefer to interpret facts in a way that confirms their own pre-determined narrative, rather than taking the harder route of considering the validity of that narrative and revising their opinions or admitting they were wrong. While I cannot claim to be wholly exempt from this foible, I hope that this blog can be a haven of open-mindedness, objectivity, and candor in a world where analysts are often employed to articulate a certain point of view regardless of reality. I will be as straightforward about my own personal biases and the limitations of my knowledge as I possibly can, and I will do my best not to let them obstruct my judgment.
In the end I hope that I am able to provide some insight to an all-too-misunderstood area of the world, and to offer some ideas of my own on the issues of democratization, U.S. foreign policy, and human rights. If you enjoy it, and even learn something from it, that would be even better.
No comments:
Post a Comment