Freedom's Unsteady March: America's Role in Building Arab Democracy - Tapa dura

" Freedom's Unsteady March is a definitive assessment of one of the central foreign policy challenges of our era. Not trapped in the Beltway straightjacket of either cheering for or sneering at President Bush, Wittes provides compelling arguments for why the United States should foster democratic change in the Middle East, and then offers creative yet sober ideas for how to promote democracy more successfully. Wittes knows intimately both Washington and the Arab world, knowledge which grounds her arguments in solid research and prudent judgments. It should be required reading for anyone seeking to help make U.S. foreign policy in the next administration." --Michael McFaul, professor of political science, Stanford University "We ultimately need allies who share our values --not just our interest Freedom's Unsteady March, Tamara Cofman Wittes forcefully and articulately reevas. Inluates how we can encourage liberalization in the Middle East. It is a welcome contribution to the ongoing foreign policy debate." --Lee Hamilton, president, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars "The author contends that democratic reform in the Arab world is neither a luxury nor a pipe dream, but a necessity. In this compact, lucid book about the recent democracy project in the Arab Middle East, Tamara Cofman Wittes provides an incisive, critical account of the Bush administration's democracy promotion policy. Despite its commendable objective, it was underfunded, bureaucratically contested, and ideologically entangled. Wittes concludes with a passionate plea to hold firmly to that policy objective but to serve it better." --Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egyptian democracy activist and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies "An impassioned, well-reasoned, and highly readable case for U.S. democracy promotion in the Arab world." --Eva Bellin, Foreign Affairs "An intelligent and thorough analysis that may help guide the next administration through the extreme challenge of furthering US interests in the Middle East." --Deirdre Sinnott, ForeWord Magazine "The book is an intelligent and thorough analysis that may help guide the next administration through the extreme challenge of furthering US interests in the Middle East." --Deirdre Sinnott, Foreword Magazine "This compact, readable work of policy advocacy argues that, despite widespread skepticism about democracy promotion resulting from the Bush administration's botched "Freedom Agenda," Arab democratization should become an even more central objective of U.S. policy." --Robert Springborg, Middle East Policy "[A] must-read" -- Middle East Journal "Wittes's book is a serious and thoughtful contribution to the literature of the freedom agenda." --Steven J. Rosen, Middle East Quarterly

President Bush promised to democratize the Middle East, but the results so far have dispirited democracy advocates and brought their project into disrepute. After the debacle in Iraq and the electoral success of Hamas, the pursuit of Arab democracy seems to many observers a fool's errand, an unfortunate combination of ideology and wishful thinking. In Freedom's Unsteady March, Tamara Cofman Wittes dissects the Bush administration's failure to advance freedom in the Middle East and lays out a better strategy for future efforts to promote democracy. Wittes argues that only the development of a more liberal and democratic politics in the Arab world will secure America's long-term goals in the region and that America must continue trying to foster progress in that direction. To do so, however, it must confront more honestly the risks of change and act more effectively to contain them. A dangerous combination of growing populations, economic stagnation, and political alienation poses the primary threat to Middle East stability today, severely testing the legitimacy and governability of key states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. If Arab governments cannot sustain the support of their citizens, they will find it difficult to work with America on issues of common concern such as stabilizing Iraq, confronting Iran on nuclear weapons, and promoting Arab-Israeli peace. Despite President Bush's failures, Wittes argues, the United States cannot afford to ignore the momentous social, economic, and political changes already taking place in Arab states. Wittes' detailed analysis of Arab politics and American policy presents an alternative -in her view, the only alternative: overcoming America's deep ambivalence about Arab democracy to support positive, liberal change in the region that will create a firmer foundation for Arab-American ties.