Articles
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2008, pages 56-57
Waging Peace
Young Global Leaders Share Findings
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“DEMOCRATIC Development in the Middle East and North Africa” was the focus of a July 19 event co-sponsored by the Middle East Institute (MEI), Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).
Youth in the Middle East and North Africa, it was emphasized, are a powerful demographic force, since approximately two-thirds of the regional population is under 30. Thus, being able to gauge their attitudes toward the U.S. and its policies is vital in understanding how to reform U.S. involvement in the region. MEI president and former Ambassador Wendy Chamberlain stressed that “the success of Middle Eastern governments and the U.S. government depends on our ability to meet the needs of young people...[since they] represent what the next generation thinks.”
POMED and AID organized conferences this past spring in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan which were attended by 138 Middle Eastern and American youths. The purpose was to develop policy recommendations on how to improve U.S. relations with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Six representatives were chosen to share their observations with Washington, DC—from Capitol Hill to non-governmental organizations.
American Erika Spaet and Moroccan Sara Ait Imoudden discussed the conclusions of their Rabat conference. According to Spaet, an upcoming senior at Ithaca College studying journalism and politics, Moroccan youth are deeply involved in their country’s 33 political parties as a result of a quota in each party that must be filled to represent youth interests. Political involvement is considered a vocation, Spaet continued, and as such opens spaces for youth to discuss politics in groups and associations. Civic changes are underway in Morocco through educational reform that includes seminars about what it means to be a citizen and volunteer, the student representatives agreed.
Imoudden, a master’s candidate at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco who is studying international studies and diplomacy, focused on the recommendations from the conference. Blogging, she explained, is a new kind of “civic journalism” that requires the protection of international bloggers’ rights to voice their opinion without the risk of being censored—or jailed. The U.S. should put energy into funding young journalist projects and providing scholarships for higher education, Imoudden said. The Rabat conference supported the idea of cultural exchanges and people-to-people dialogue with high-tech video conferencing equipment, she continued, because being able to talk face-to-face can dispel stereotypes and foster a cooperative environment.
The Cairo conference was represented by American Dina Elshinnawi, a master’s student at the London School of Economics and Political Science studying media and communications, and Egyptian Mohamed Sabbah, who recently earned his master’s from the College of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University.
Elshinnawi pointed out that media can provide engagement and constructive dialogue, but argued that the U.S. should formally acknowledge longstanding relations with Egypt and not resort to anti-Islamist rhetoric. She asserted that the U.S. should broaden and develop educational programs and open jobs in Egypt for its citizens; on the domestic level, she said, the U.S. should begin teaching Arabic to children at a young age and not solely in university settings. There should be less emphasis on military aid from the U.S., both Elshinnawi and Sabbah noted. Sabbah went on to say that Egypt holds a position of great importance in the Arab world, but the country is often underestimated and overlooked by the U.S.—citing for instance, the fact that presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama skipped a visit there during his recent trip to the region.
The conference in Amman was summarized by Tharwat Alazab, a Jordanian representative who currently works with USAID, and American Emily Crawford, a recent graduate of the Whitehead School at Seton Hall University with a BS in diplomacy and international relations, who currently teaches English in Madaba, Jordan.
Alazab explained that Jordan is now struggling with a large number of Iraqi refugees—and grappling for ways to provide enough jobs for everyone and satisfy Jordanians who are divided over controversial issues like citizenship for the refugees. American foreign policy, she noted, is not opening any doors in the Middle East with its continued support of Israel, waging a war on Iraq, and an inability to swiftly resolve the Israeli-Arab conflict in Palestine.
There needs to be a focus on journalism by average citizens, Crawford advised, as well as a way to connect American and Middle Eastern scholars, such as with the Fulbright program. The Amman conference concluded that the U.S. Department of State’s human rights reports are inaccurate, with an inflated positive view, Crawford said. As for blogging, she said there may be freedom of speech online, but Jordanian bloggers spoke of problems and limitations.
At the Washington event’s conclusion, the six young representatives agreed that democracy should be de-linked from the “War on Terror” and pointed out that democracy doesn’t have to be in an “American style.” Their advice to the U.S.: “don’t be a demanding power instead of a willing partner” in the Middle East and North Africa.
—Nina Hamedani
