Democracy in Arab World and Eastern Europe
Introduction
Much of the Arab nations are in resistance of democracy. This has advocated the notion of a “clash” between Western and Arab civilization. The phrase “Arab exception” is an argument of resistance with the notion that Arab nations are immune to democratization and modernization. United Sates officials, pundits and policy experts are currently ceaselessly and heatedly debating on how democratic political change might occur in the region. In comparison to the Arab world, most countries inn Western Europe are basically consensus through adopting highly democratic and liberal modes of judicial review, central banks and of constitutional amendments.
Democracy goes beyond free, fair and frequent elections that embody good governance. United Nations Development Program define democracy as a set of societal institutions that fully represent the people, interlinked by solid network of institutional regulation and accountability (with an ultimate accountability to the people), whose purpose is to achieve the welfare of all members of the society”. (Arab Human Development Report 2002). Democracy open doors for free markets, citizens freedom, it up holds human rights and gives the people courage, vision, and moral leadership.
This Rogerian essay will examine democracy in Eastern Europe as the ex communist nations that have made a transition in the last two decades. This information will be derived from Kenneth Jost article Democracy in Eastern Europe. From the same point of view, the essay will examine the issue of democracy in Arab lands which since the end Second World War monarchs and presidential strong men have governed. Kenneth Jost and Benton Ives-Halperin represent this condition in their article Democracy in the Arab World; will U.S efforts to promote democracy succeed?
Democracy in Eastern Europe
Most parts of the Eastern Europe fell under the communist rule after the Second World War as seen in the concept of the Iron Curtain. Today most countries in Eastern Europe function as democracies with citizens enjoying free electrons and multi party political systems. The former Yugoslavia is among the nations that does not practice democracy in Eastern Europe. The country experiences ethnic –religious rivalry due to lack of democracy in the nation. NATO and the USA have tried to help Yugoslavia in developing peaceful democracies. Apart from Yugoslavia most part of this region experiences relative peace as they practice democracy. These countries enjoy free and fair elections and the creation of open political system in which politicians are free to air different political points view.
Eastern European countries have witnessed economic and political progress. Poland as an example is today seen as, “a prosperous, growing and confident nation” according to Gale Stokes a history professor at Rice University in Houston. Other successful democratic nations include Czech Republic and Hungary. Bulgaria and Romania are joining the other developed nations in Eastern Europe as they embrace democracy and make economic progress. They have leaders who are reform –minded and operate as multiparty parliaments.
The US by aiding Poland’s solidarity labor has been in support of these moves of Eastern European countries embracing democracy most of which had communist government. They are currently in support of free parliamentary elections. Poland and the US have shown a good example to other nations as noted by Thomas Carrothers who says, “The power of example is profound in Eastern and Central Europe”.
Some countries like Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus have made less progress in adopting democracy. People in these countries still call upon their governments to reform into “normal” countries meaning to adopt European –style parliamentary governments which have free elections and multiple political parties.
Threats poised to achieving democracy in Eastern Europe mainly root from ethnic division. For example in Slovakia and Romania, Hungarians who are the less majority are being treated badly. Some say that democracy is threatened by nationalism and popularism as Tismanneanu of University of Maryland says. This is because, “they form strong and liberal tendencies” according to him (CQ Press, 1999).
Democracy in Arab world.
Lack of democracy in the Middle East has caused a rise of violence and anti western Islamic radicalism as the major security problem. The terrorists attack in Washington and New York on September 11, 2001 saw the European and US policy communities reverse their previous outlook towards Arab world and democracy. The super powers are now attempting to democratize and politically reform the region through priority policies. Top on the list is the elimination of roots of terrorism.
Democracy in the Arab world faces various obstacles like imbalanced economy, limited experience with self rule and the rise of radical Islamic movements. The two US allies in the Arab world are Egypt and Saudi Arabia also suffer the same setbacks. Egypt does not have policies that support political freedom of expression. Saad Eddin Ibrahim (Egyptian sociologist) and Hafez Abu Saada head of human rights in Egypt have ones been arrested with an offence of spreading defamatory information about their country. The laws in this country tightly control the civic life of the people. For instance the government committee must license all political parties and the public demonstrations must be approved by the Ministry of the Interior.
Press editors are appointed by the president and in case of any direct criticism of the military and the president’s family may result to imprisonment or closure of publication. This forms the factors that hinder democracy in this nation. The country’s political cycle according to an interviewed group say that, “Egyptians cannot change their government democratically,” this is because the political licensing laws are, “systematic irregularities” according to the Freedom House. This is because the elections procedures are done to ensure the ruling party National Democratic Party stays in power.
Adrian Karatnycky a senior counselor and former president of Freedom House says that, “there is no legitimate democracy in the Arab world”. This is because according to him, there is no significant and substantial movement towards full democracy.The main challenge in implementing democracy in the Arab world is that most Arabist considers the US move as being interference. Nassif Hitti, a diplomat in the Paris mission of the League of Arab States says that, “the US should try not to impose democracy because for right our wrong reasons it can be interpreted as interference and this might hinder the progress in the process.” Another challenge is that the region has a large Muslim population and character which makes the concept of democracy and Islam a complex “contradictory interpretation” according to Hitti.
Kuwait is making efforts in embracing democracy. This is after pressure from Washington that helped to persuade L-Sabah family in rule to restore the suspended national assembly. Kuwait has the only legislative parliament in the Arab World with the power to check decisions brought forward by the executive branch (CQ Press, 2004)
Conclusion
From the discussion, the readers have observed two different regions of the world; the Eastern Europe and the Arab world. The Eastern Europe is transforming it self from being a communist to being democratic world. The countries under this category are enjoying, economic, political, and social progress. The citizens have the liberty to air their political views and hold free and affair elections. On the contrary, the second category under the Arab world we see countries that can be called “freedom deficits” with the exception of Kuwait. These countries, lack full freedom in holding free and fair elections, lack of freedom of press and media, lack of multiparty and do not practice human rights.Democracy is the best thing that a country can have because aspects like ethic clashes terrorism, public demonstrations, and violence are eliminated for the safety of a country and the whole world.
Reference
Arab Human Development Report 2002: Creating Opportunities for Future Generations(New York: UNDP, 2002), p. 106; see also, “How the Arabs Compare: Arab Human Development Report 2002,” Middle East Quarterly, fall 2002, pp. 59-67.
CQ Press (1999) Democracy in Eastern Europe by Kenneth Jost. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1
On April 21, 2010.
CQ Press (2004) Democracy in the Arab world by Kenneth Jost and Benton Ives-Halperin. Retrieved from
On April 21, 2010.
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