The Jordan Times
Democracy and good governance are finding a growing resonance among
broadening segments of the Arab populace, occasionally even finding a
faint echo and response among those in power in the form of cautious
and selective opening of their national political and social systems.
Some
in the Arab world view this as a sign of hope, an inching towards
democratic reforms and good governance. Most, including those who
participated in writing a recently released international report on
freedom in the Arab world, however, consider the steps taken so far by
most Arab governments in the direction of freedom and good governance
mere palliatives, too much fanfare signifying virtually nothing.
"Unquestionably,
incipient reforms are taking place in more than one of the priority
areas of governance and freedom," according to the Arab Human
Development Report 2004 titled "Towards Freedom in the Arab World",
"but for the most part these reforms have been embryonic and
fragmentary ? they do not add up to a serious effort to dispel the
prevailing environment of repression."
The report, sponsored
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been put
together by a team of internationally acknowledged independent Arab
scholars. Amman was courageous to host the launch of the report in
early April. It is the third in a series of such reports. The first
AHDR, titled "Creating Opportunities for Future Generations", was
issued in 2002, and the second, on "Building Knowledge Societies", in
2003.
Widely acclaimed internationally, as well as in the Arab
world, the AHDRs provide a fresh perspective on the Arab world ? fresh
but steeped in and fully cognisant of Arab traditions, culture,
history, economy and polity, highlighting and identifying targets and
strategies dictated by the imperatives of modernisation and
globalisation.
Societal constraints
A deepening sense
of crisis and malaise envelops the Arab world today. Frustration and
disappointment are widespread, as is the sense of helplessness and
perceived failure. To alleviate this, there is urgent need for
political reforms, for a review and restructuring of political
institutions and their architecture in the Arab region. The agreement,
however, stops here. Diagnosis is accepted, but on the source of the
illness, the prognosis and curative prescriptions, differences emerge.
Continued
Israeli occupation of Palestine and suppression of the Palestinian
people has continued to provide, although to a lesser degree than in
the past, Arab regimes with a pretext for postponing internal reforms
in the face of an external threat. US-led occupation in Iraq and the
escalating war on terrorism have also adversely affected human
development in the Arab region. Post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorist measures
taken by some Western countries were perceived to be anti-Arab and
anti-Muslim throughout the Arab world, thereby weakening the hands of
Arab reformers who had held the same Western countries as models of
freedom and democracy. Anti-terrorism strategy, adopted by the Arab
governments, has resulted in additional restrictions on human rights in
the Arab region.
Collective failure
Among the Arab
people, there is near consensus about the collective failure of Arab
governments to deal with several major issues which affect their lives
and psyche ? the Palestinian issue, Arab cooperation, foreign
interference, human development, modernisation and stability. The sense
of collective failure becomes deeper because of the absence of basic
means of decent living and lack of human rights.
That the Arab
regimes have not been able to harness and nurture a united Arab will
remains uncontested. What is also incontrovertible is that in the
absence of the support of a united Arab will, Arab governments have
been unable to speak and negotiate in international fora from a
position of strength to protect Arab rights and secure a decent life
for the Arab people. Arab disunity has become synonymous with weakness
and insignificance, leaving the region and its people vulnerable to
exploitation in this world order.
In the Arab world, the masses remain disenfranchised and excluded from the decision-making processes.
"The
executive apparatus in the modern Arab state, in the political sense,
resembles a 'black hole' which converts the surrounding social
environment into a setting in which nothing moves, from which nothing
escapes," according to AHDR 2004.
Parliaments, where they exist, serve as the bureaucratic adjuncts of the executive.
The
Arab region, by and large, remains unaffected by democratic movements
that have taken roots and flourished in other regions of the world in
recent years. Some Arab countries have made a few liberal moves towards
democracy, but for these moves to become norms rather than exceptions,
the governing elite in these countries would have to accept the
principle of peaceful alteration of power.
The situation in
the Arab region remains explosive, social tinderboxes ready to explode.
Unless peaceful countermeasures are taken to alleviate the endemic
social and economic injustices, and given continued development
failure, internal repression and foreign appropriation, intensified,
even violent, social conflict is more than likely to erupt. It is not a
matter of if but when.
Possible options
What can be
done to reverse this nightmarish scenario? Good governance provides the
most appropriate answer. Good governance, if ushered in and instituted
peacefully, would lay a solid foundation for an Arab renaissance,
undoing social injustice through effective policies and measures.
The
path to the establishment of good governance lies in negotiated and
peaceful redistribution and alternation of power in the Arab countries.
Good governance and democracy are not synonymous, but a
democratic environment is a prerequisite for initiating and nurturing
good governance institutions, conventions and practices in a society.
Political structures which limit people's sovereignty and rights are
not likely to facilitate democratic institutions necessary for economic
reforms and modernisation.
Arab renaissance, globalised society
In
the past four decades, Arab countries have taken significant steps
towards modernisation of their economies by investing heavily in
infrastructure, industrialisation, agriculture, education and public
health. Many of them have also instituted policies and measures for the
expansion of the private sector. However, they have failed to meet
their people's aspirations for development, security and liberation.
Poor governance in most, if not all, social and economic institutions
has aggravated the economic and social situation, as reflected in
growing unemployment, increased poverty and the widening gap between
the poor and the rich, resulting from unbalanced distribution of income
and wealth in the Arab region.
Freedom is pivotal to human
development. The concept of Arab renaissance combines the principles of
freedom and justice with the principles of social and economic
development, emphasising equally human rights and human development
which have human freedom as the common denominator. Without concerted
action for comprehensive structural socio-economic and political
reforms at national and regional levels, essential for spearheading a
human renaissance in the Arab world, Arab countries and the Arab people
may find themselves unprepared and incapable of meeting the twin
challenges of modernisation and development in a highly competitive,
knowledge-based globalised society.
The writer is senior
regional programme adviser at the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), and professor (at large) of public policy at George Mason
University in Fairfax, Virginia. He contributed this article to The
Jordan Times.
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