Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire Archives


Category: US foreign policy

Reactions to the QDDR

December 16th, 2010 by Jason

The release of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) has so far been received with cautious optimism. Josh Rogin writes that several development NGOs have “praised” the QDDR, while also expressing skepticism: “Paul O’Brien, vice president of policy and advocacy campaigns for Oxfam America, noted that while the QDDR clearly puts ambassadors and chiefs of missions at the head of country teams as the so-call ‘CEOs’ of American diplomacy, it doesn’t tackle how the inevitable conflicts between short-term foreign policy objectives and longer-term development goals are resolved.”

Connie Veillette, writing at the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance blog, says that there are “many things to like,” including a “focus on improving hiring, staffing, and filling the mid-level gap through more flexible mechanisms.” However, she does list several points of “unfinished business,” including “how will State and USAID grapple with managing more than two dozen government agencies engaged in some type of foreign assistance program?” Siddartha Mahanta sounds a pessimistic note: “the United States diplomatic corps might get a major boost in power and personnel. Realistically? They probably won’t.” He goes on to describe the political roadblocks facing the reforms, and how Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who has advocated for cuts in the State Department budget and is set to become the chairperson of the House Foreign Services Committee, may prove to be uncooperative.


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, NGOs, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Qatar: The Middle Path?

December 15th, 2010 by Jason

In a recent article for The Atlantic, Shadi Hamid uses Qatar’s successful World Cup 2022 bid as an avenue to discuss the course the small Gulf country has taken over the last 15 years. “The World Cup is just the latest success in an impressive run for the Qataris, who currently enjoy the world’s highest GDP per capita as well as its fastest growth rates. More importantly, the win is a vindication of Qatar’s odd, and often creative, foreign policy.” Hamid describes Qatari foreign policy as a “middle path” when compared to its other Arab neighbors, due to the country’s ties with both the U.S. and Iran. “Qatar’s independent and assertive policies defy easy characterization within any of the region’s camps,” but parallels can be made with Turkey, which has traditionally close ties to the U.S., but has recently cultivated ties with Syria, Hamas, and the “Arab public.”


Posted in Diplomacy, Qatar, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »

Iraq: Allawi to Join Government

December 15th, 2010 by Jason

Steven Lee Myers reports that Ayad Allawi has agreed to join the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. “Mr. Allawi did so grudgingly and with conditions, warning that an agreement brokered by the United States to form a broad power-sharing coalition government under Mr. Maliki’s leadership could still unravel.” Meanwhile, Reidar Visser excoriated the U.S. for over-stating the political progress in Iraq at recent meeting of the United Nations Security Council. “They do not even seem to notice that the Iraqi parliament has yet to address the legal framework for the supposed cornerstone of the power-sharing ‘deal’, the national council for high policies, without which the whole ‘agreement’ is basically a spin-doctor masquerade.”


Posted in Iraq, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy, United Nations | Comment »

Senate Releases FY2011 Budget Text

December 14th, 2010 by Jason

The Senate Appropriations Committee has released the text of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Omnibus Appropriations Act late Tuesday. Under the $1.1 trillion spending bill, $53.5 billion would be spent on State, foreign operations, and related programs, $3.1 billion less than requested. Should the language of the bill remain unchanged, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) would receive $128.5 million, $23.5 million more than requested and $10.5 million more than FY 2010 levels, while bilateral economic assistance would be funded at $22.97 billion, $1.6 billion below the requested amount and $1.12 billion above the FY 2010 level . Egypt, Israel, the West Bank/Gaza, and Jordan would be funded at the level requested, while Lebanon would be funded at the level requested, “subject to conditions.” The House and the Senate have until Saturday to either agree on an omnibus bill or pass a continuing resolution.


Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

Iran: Reform a “Long-Term Proposition”

December 14th, 2010 by Jason

Daniel Brumberg and Barry Blechman write in a new piece at the Middle East Channel that using “regime change” as a basis for an “effective U.S.-Iran policy” is unwise. Policy makers in the the U.S. are becoming impatient with the Obama administration’s attempts to negotiate a resolution to the nuclear issue and some are again turning to military action as a solution. “Political reform will eventually come to Iran, but in [a] manner far more prolonged and partial than that imagined by advocates of a full-scale democratic revolution.” The Green Movement was “battered by a repressive regime and deeply divided” after the 2009 elections, but “[t]his is not an impossible project…it will require a grass roots process of networking, communication and alliance building that will take years to unfold.” The authors argue that the best thing the U.S. can do to “promote political decompression” is to continue to engage with the Islamic Republic. “Sustained U.S.-Iranian engagement would undercut the ‘threat’ that ultra hardliners regularly invoke to legitimate their efforts to pummel or isolate their critics.”


Posted in Diplomacy, Iran, US foreign policy | Comment »

Lebanon: Stability “Trumps” Justice

December 13th, 2010 by Jason

Roger Cohen, writing in The New York Times, describes Lebanon as a “gravity-defying…country with two armies, a ‘unity’ government too divided to meet, a wild real estate boom and a time bomb called the ‘international tribunal.’” Attitudes in Lebanon about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) have changed significantly since its inception. This change is embodied by Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Druze community: “A recent meeting between Jumblatt and Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, did not go smoothly. ‘He told me I’m a national leader and should back the tribunal,’ Jumblatt said. ‘I said, no, I prefer to be a tribal leader, I’m downgrading! And I asked what the use of tribunal justice is if it leads to slaughter? It’s better to drop justice for stability.’” Jumblatt’s notion of stability over justice is echoed by Cohen. “Lebanese stability is precious and tenuous: It trumps justice delayed, flawed and foreign.”



Posted in Hezbollah, Lebanon, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »

“Quiet Diplomacy Has Not Succeeded”

December 9th, 2010 by Jason

Writing at the Arab Reform Bulletin, POMED’s former executive director Andrew Albertson examines the Obama administration’s efforts towards promoting democracy in the Middle East. Albertson praises the administration for it’s “mulitlateral” approach and for “work[ing] with Congress to make the necessary investments in democracy assistance,” by increasing support for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. However, the administration has also fallen short in several areas. The pursuit of human rights and reform through “disconnected bureaucratic pathways” has led to a “struggle to integrate serious, long-term thinking about development into interagency policy planning.” Also, the president’s rhetoric has “at times seemed disconnected from the bureaucratic machinery necessary to back up words with action.” Ultimately, the Obama administration needs to “demonstrate stronger linkages between its rhetoric on human rights and political reform on the one hand, and policy consequences on the other.”


Posted in Civil Society, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Multilateralism, Reform, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »

POMED Notes: “Crisis in Lebanon: Sectarian Politics, Regional Dynamics, and the U.N. Special Tribunal”

December 8th, 2010 by Jason

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) held a panel discussion Wednesday titled “Crisis in Lebanon: Sectarian Politics, Regional Dynamics, and the U.N. Special Tribunal.” The speakers were Aram Nerguizian, a scholar with the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Randa Slim, an independent consultant and a board member of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue and the Project on Middle East Democracy, Andrew J. Tabler, a Next Generation Fellow in the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute, and Mona Yacoubian, head of the Lebanon Working Group at USIP and special adviser to USIP’s Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention.

 (To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)

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Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Hezbollah, Israel, Judiciary, Lebanon, Military, Political Parties, Saudi Arabia, Sectarianism, Syria, US foreign policy, United Nations | Comment »

POMED Notes: “The Realities of Power Sharing in the Next Iraqi Government”

December 7th, 2010 by Jason

The Middle East Institute (MEI) held an event on Tuesday titled “The Realities of Power Sharing in the Next Iraqi Government” with Reidar Visser. The event was held to mark the release of Visser’s new book, “A Responsible End?: The United States and the Iraqi Transition, 2005-2010.” Visser was introduced by Kate Seelye, the Vice President of Programs and Communications at MEI.

(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)

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Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Elections, Iran, Iraq, Kurds, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »

Iraq: “Violent Agreement” on U.S. Strategy Going Forward

December 3rd, 2010 by Jason

A new paper titled “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward,” has been well received by Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy. “I’m impressed with the Unfinished Business report, and find that it reflects many of the conversations I’ve had with its authors and with various U.S. and Iraqi players over the last year. […] Now that the firm commitment to withdrawal established, it’s appropriate and healthy to be actively and intensely engaged in Iraqi politics.” Lynch also points to an op-ed that he and John Nagl wrote in the Christian Science Monitor yesterday, before either had read the report, that comes to similar conclusions about U.S. strategy moving forward: “Today, those who backed the 2007 ’surge’ should be keen to see its gains consolidated, while those who called for withdrawal should be keen to make sure that as it happens, disaster does not follow. And while Iraq certainly needs to step up its political game, the US must also muster the bipartisan political strength and will to help build a stable Iraq that can be a partner to the US.”


Posted in Foreign Aid, Iraq, Military, US foreign policy | Comment »

Iraq: Constitution Stands in Way of Power-Sharing Deal

December 3rd, 2010 by Jason

Reidar Visser writes in Foreign Affairs that the current power-sharing deal in Iraq is “disconcertingly lacking in substance.” Visser details the various machinations that have been put forward to tempt Iraqiya, led by Ayad Allawi, into forming a coalition government with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law and the Kurdish parties. Visser identifies the core of the problem: “public talk of councils, and even signed agreements by the country’s biggest political blocs, cannot override the demands of Iraq’s constitution and laws.” In fact, he says, the “main responsibility for the fragile character of Iraq’s ‘power-sharing deal,’ however, rests with the Obama administration. Washington continues to spend more energy pursuing its own, idiosyncratic exegesis of Iraqi politics than it does engaging with the real world.”


Posted in Iraq, Political Parties, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »

POMED Notes: “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward”

December 2nd, 2010 by Jason

The Brookings Institution held an event on Thursday to mark the release of the analysis paper “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward.” The event’s participants were all co-authors of the paper and included Kenneth M. Pollack, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, J. Scott Carpenter, the Keston Family Fellow at the Washington Institute and director of Project Fikra, and Sean Kane, a program officer with the United States Institute of Peace’s Iraq Programs.

 (To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)

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Posted in DC Event Notes, Elections, Foreign Aid, Iraq, Kurds, Military, Political Parties, Reform, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »

Statement from the Working Group on Egypt

December 1st, 2010 by Jason

The Working Group on Egypt, a bipartisan group that includes POMED’s Executive Director Stephen McInerney, has released a statement criticizing the conduct of the Egyptian elections. “The Working Group on Egypt is deeply troubled by the irregularities observed before and during the parliamentary elections, which indicate that President Mubarak’s government remains resistant to domestic and international calls for reform. […] The Working Group urges the administration to develop a comprehensive strategy that will urge Egypt onto the path to free and fair elections, without which the next Egyptian president will lack the political legitimacy that is essential to maintaining domestic and regional stability.”


Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, US foreign policy | Comment »

Egypt: Brotherhood Expected to Lose Seats

November 23rd, 2010 by Jason

In an article in Al Masry Al Youm, Noha El-Hennawy says that the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to suffer a “remarkable retreat” in Sunday’s election and will likely be replaced with the liberal Wafd party. As El-Hennawy explains, the unprecedented success of the Brotherhood in 2005, when the outlawed group won 88 seats with members running as independents, has lead the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) to crackdown on the party. Wafd party looks to be in the best position to capitalize on this turn of events, although Mohamed Sherdy, the Wafd Party’s official spokesman, seems less optimistic: “‘I was pro-election and pro-participation but if we could go back in time, I think we should really reconsider it […] I do not think they (the government) want anybody from the opposition, they are chocking (sic) the opposition.’”

Also, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy released an audio recording of a Policy Forum held yesterday on the Egyptian elections and U.S. policy towards Egypt. The discussants included Dina Guirguis, a Keston Family research fellow with the Washington Institute’s Project Fikra, David Schenker, the Aufzien fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute, and Leslie Campbell, a senior associate and regional director of the National Democratic Institute’s (NDI) Middle East and North Africa division.


Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Parties, US foreign policy | Comment »

Egypt: Should the U.S. Push Hard for Democratic Reforms?

November 22nd, 2010 by Jason

Amanda Kadlec, writing at International Affairs Review, questions the efficacy of unwavering U.S. support for the Egyptian government. Kadlec agrees with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Egypt is a “‘cornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East,’” but, she asks, “at what cost, and – more critically – is it durable?” While Egypt remains a “central player” in the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Kadlec argues that “isolating the peace process as a priority at the expense of democracy is an unwise long-term strategy.” Ultimately, silence on the issue of democracy in Egypt “speaks volumes,” according to Kadlec. “It signals quite loudly to Egyptians that their human, civil, and political rights are trumped by a nebulously defined regional stability that hinges on a Palestinian-Israeli agreement.”

Jay Soloman and Ashraf Khalil write in the Wall Street Journal that “[s]uccessive U.S. administrations have struggled with the dilemma of how hard to push for democracy in Egypt,” noting Egyptian support on both the peace process and anti-terrorism issues as plausible reasons for the indecisiveness. George Ishak, a founder of the Keyafa movement, which advocates for democratic reform in Egypt, told the authors, “‘America doesn’t care about this at all. They feel stability is more important than democracy.’”


Posted in Egypt, Elections, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »

Egypt: Government Rejects U.S. Criticism of Religious Freedom Record

November 22nd, 2010 by Evan

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry rejected recent U.S. criticism of the status of religious freedom in Egypt saying that the State Department “has no right to make such an evaluation.” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki added “Egypt is only concerned with what emerges from parties linked to the United Nations.” The State Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report, released last Wednesday, criticized Egypt saying “The status of respect for religious freedom by the government remained poor, unchanged from the previous year.”


Posted in Egypt, US foreign policy | Comment »

Iraq: The Future of American Influence

November 22nd, 2010 by Jason

In Saturday’s New York Times, Vice President Joe Biden wrote an editorial commending Iraqi politicians for “painstakingly” working through the issues needed to resolve the country’s political stalemate. “By agreeing to form a national partnership government, however, Iraqi leaders have sent an unmistakable message to their fellow citizens, their region and the world: after more than seven years of war and decades of dictatorship, Iraqis seek a nation where the rights of all citizens are recognized and the talents of all are harnessed to unlock the country’s full potential.” The Vice President went on to enumerate the many difficulties facing the new government, including the upcoming census, disagreement over the hydrocarbon law, and the final status of Kirkuk, among others. He also pushes for “continued engagement, including our broader diplomatic presence, a modernization plan for the Iraqi security forces and financing for a police development program.”

In contrast to the Vice President, Mohammad A. Salihpoints to the failed attempts by the U.S., including phone calls from Vice President Biden and President Obama, to coerce Kurdish leader Jalal Talibani to step down in favor of Ayad Allawi as “a stark reminder of Washington’s dwindling leverage in Iraq.” And Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi argues in an editorial in the Daily Star that “[t]he Obama administration’s Iraq policy is in chaos,” in part because, “Obama is following the example of President George W. Bush, who let the US electoral agenda, rather than American – not to mention Iraqi – national interests, dictate Iraq policy.”

 


Posted in Elections, Iraq, Political Parties, US foreign policy | Comment »

Egypt: Fractured Ghad Party Illustrates Regime’s Repression of Liberal Parties

November 19th, 2010 by Anna

In an article for Foreign Policy, Eric Trager chronicles the story of Ayman Nour’s Ghad party, highlighting “the remarkably devious tactics through which the [Egyptian] regime stifles even its most prominent opponents.” He observes that there are now two Ghad parties in Egypt: one that is not a legal entity and one that is (and is running 31 candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections). The former’s persistent criticism of the government prompted the regime to arrest Nour and work to undermine the party. Gradually, Ghad was co-opted by the regime, and Trager writes that today “a vote for Ghad is, in fact, a vote for a pro-Mubarak party.” A pro-Nour faction has remained, and Nour himself has fought to stay relevant by continuing to speak out. He concludes: “It is tempting to believe that, if Washington placed enough pressure on Cairo to liberalize, this reality could change. But Ghad’s story demonstrates that the Mubarak regime’s commitment to stifling its domestic opponents far outweighs the West’s commitment to promoting democratization.”


Posted in Egypt, Elections, Political Parties, US foreign policy | Comment »

Egypt: U.S. Should Have “Positive Impact on Change”

November 19th, 2010 by Jason

In the third and final part of a three-part series (parts one and two) exploring the political environment in Egypt prior to the November 28 parliamentary elections, Dina Guirguis focuses on the role the U.S. should play in pushing for democratic reforms in Egypt. Pointing to numerous “bad omens” including the firing of Ibrahim Eissa, the Egyptian government’s decision to not allow international monitors, and the “major restrictions” placed on domestic monitoring groups by the Shura Council, Guirguis says that “Egyptians are awakening to this reality and demonstrating creative outlets of resistance.” She says that the Obama administration “has thus far proved unwilling to rock the boat on Egypt for the sake of so-called regional interests,” and that “Egypt offers…an opportunity for the United States to have a positive impact on change.” Guirguis recommends “target[ing] known Egyptian human rights abusers” in the same way that recent sanctions have targeted members of the Iranian regime, and that the Obama Administration “should consider dropping its opposition to forward-leaning S. Res. 586 in support of freedom in Egypt,” among other measures.


Posted in Civil Society, Egypt, Elections, Political Parties, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »

POMED Notes: “Egypt’s Political Future: The Parliamentary Elections and Beyond”

November 18th, 2010 by Jason

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace held an event on Thursday titled “Egypt’s Political Future: The Parliamentary Elections and Beyond.” The speakers for the event were Michele Dunne, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment and editor of the online journal, the Arab Reform Bulletin, and Amr Hamzawy, research director and senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. The discussion was moderated by Jennifer Windsor, the associate dean for Programs and Studies at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown.

(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf)

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Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Egypt, Elections, Freedom, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, NGOs, Political Parties, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »