Posted on 07/08/2002 10:00:32 PM PDT by a_Turk
The Bush administration is searching for an Arab model for an Islamic democracy.
The debate concerns how to outline a roadmap for Arab democracy and who should be its models.
U.S. officials said the some senior members in the Bush administration have suggested to some Arab allies of Washington that they should emulate Indonesia, Middle East Newsline reported. But they said neither proposal was welcomed by the Arabs.
"The great majority of the world's Muslims would like to be part of successful, free, democratic, prosperous societies, those that embody what might be called Western values but that are, in fact, universal values," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said. "I think success in moderate countries like Turkey or Indonesia can contribute to a larger dynamic. But we need to work on the positive side of this as well as the more negative side of fighting terrorists."
The debate comes amid an attempt to translate President George Bush's call for Palestinian democracy into U.S. policy. Some officials are urging the White House to formulate a policy that links closer Arab economic and military ties into progress toward Arab democracy.
"I think what we can decide for ourselves is that those countries that choose to be on the path of democracy, that chose to be on the path of freedom, that choose to be on the path of economic growth fueled by private enterprise, those are countries that I think represent the future and a future we want to support," Wolfowitz said.
Wolfowitz's approach, outlined at a hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week is said to be the view of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Richard Cheney. Officials said Secretary of State Colin Powell does not share that vision.
At the hearing, the link between Arab democracy and U.S. relations was greeted with skepticism. Sen. Chuck Hagel said Arab countries have rejected Turkey as a role model.
"I've heard from others, Arabs, Muslims from around the world, that Turkey isn't necessarily the secular country that many Muslims would emulate," Hagel said. "I happen to be a great supporter of Turkey."
Officials said the United States is not concerned that Arab countries have made Islam into their official religion. They said many European Union countries have adopted Christianity as their official state religion.
"I think the way I look at it, Senator, is there's nothing necessarily contradictory about Islam and democracy," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.
Dearborn, Michigan?
That's interesting. No reason was given why??
Has Sept 11th reduced support of the far right in Turkey? There has been so much talk here and in Europe about oppressive religious governments being the cause of so much misery in the Arab world.
My grandfather used to say that democracy was for civilized people only. That a population needed to reach a certain level of education and civility in order for it to work. That's why Africa can't get it together.
Maybe what these countries need is a benevolent dictator until they can evolve to that point.
Has Sept 11th reduced support of the far right in Turkey?Naah, these things don't change overnight. The religious right split 50/50 a couple of years ago. The moderates abandoned the far right. They swear that their mission is not to recreate the old Sultanate.
Yes, but in modern Western countries they are regarded as a lunatic fringe.
That's a reasonable comparison -- the Arab countries are in a state comparable to the Christian West before the need for a modus vivendi between various sects forced people, kicking and screaming, to move in the direction of civilized tolerance.
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