Westerns initiatives that miss the point, a WMD-free Middle East and peace prospects in Sudan -- Dina Ezzat, in three separate articles below, leafs through the agenda of the forthcoming Arab summit
'It's pouring initiatives' -- hallelujah?
The Arab world is looking askance at foreign initiatives aimed at reforming it
Arab official and intellectual circles have been at best reserved in reacting to the litany of Western- generated initiatives to address and resolve Middle Eastern political issues. Some comments made by Arabs over the past few days reflect a deep sense of anger and frustration, especially over US initiatives that have been divulged and debated without first being made known to the very Arab countries the proposals target.
This discontent is likely to be voiced more clearly and at a higher level when Arab foreign ministers meet early in March at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League. They will decide then on the prudence of a unified reaction that may then be adopted by the Arab summit of heads of states later in the month. "Obviously Arab foreign ministers and Arab leaders will have to assess this host of initiatives that raise so many questions," said Hesham Youssef, chief of staff for the Arab League's secretary- general.
According to Youssef, Arab states are not rushing to turn down the initiatives but they also believe that any "imported ideas" that set priorities for the Arab world and altogether redefine the concept of the Middle East cannot be uncritically accepted. "We welcome the notion of reform -- after all many Arab countries have been embarking on reform measures, even if only at a slow pace -- but we certainly say no to impositions," Youssef said. He is currently heading a large working group at the Arab League that is examining all the proposed initiatives.
Youssef's remarks are much milder than those made by the League's Secretary-General Amr Moussa. "First of all, we have not received all the initiatives. We certainly have not received the American initiative [the Greater Middle East initiative] and this in itself is not the right way to start," commented Moussa. According to the vocal Arab diplomat, "any initiative based on a big-brother-to-small-brother approach is unlikely to work. Arab countries cannot be on the receiving end. They have to be adequately consulted on matters that concern their own future."
For Moussa, who has recently been cynical about the "initiatives that are being poured over the Middle East", there can be no serious talk of a working plan for the future of the Middle East, if core issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and the situation in Iraq are put on the back burner. "Yes, we can talk about democracy and human rights, but we also need to talk about the critical situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and Iraq. Those who think that the Middle East can be reformed without these two issues being properly addressed are very much mistaken," Moussa said.
Moussa is not alone in thinking along such lines. With the exception of only some senior officials in Kuwait -- a close ally to the US and Europe -- Arab officials have not been diplomatic in their criticism. In particular, the proposal to redefine the Middle East as stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan has been viewed as especially problematic.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal explicitly described the initiatives "as uninviting to the Arab world, which will not succumb to models forced upon it". Following talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin he added: "We would like to learn from the West but we cannot be treated like pupils who will be slapped if they fail to show obedience." For his part, Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Ebeid called the proposed models "poorly fitting ready-to-wear democracies that ignore the very obvious curves of the region, its history and culture".
These concerns are shared by the region's non- Arab states including Turkey and Iran whose officials have also cautioned against the unspecified goal of these initiatives and warned that superimposed ideas cannot bring about sustainable change. The Iranian foreign minister warned that a change of those regimes that do not follow norms set by Washington and the West in general could be the real but hidden objective of these initiatives. Meanwhile, the Turkish prime minister suggested that partnership not imposition is what the countries of the Middle East really need.
Still, no Arab official has said that his country will decline to deal with any of these initiatives. "The message that Arab officials are trying to get across is very simple and legitimate: we accept that reform is necessary, but we do have many questions about the approach of the proposed initiatives and their end-game," Youssef said.
In addition to the obvious questions relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq, there are equally fundamental issues relating to the concept of the Arab world as an entity, since there is a distinct lack of any clear or systematic reference to it. "There is explicit criticism of Arab ruling regimes and of the current levels of development and democracy in many Arab countries, but no talk of the Arab world as such. This is worrying as it takes us back to the New Middle East concept promoted by former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in the wake of the signing of the Oslo accords in the early 1990s," commented one Arab League source.
Also of concern to the Arab countries is the mechanism by which these initiatives would be implemented. Arab diplomats speaking to Al- Ahram Weekly have warned of the tendency in some Western quarters, especially in the US, to impose change so swiftly that it brings havoc instead of reform.
Then there is the unavoidable question of the role of culture, education and religion in these initiatives and to what extent Arab and Muslim countries can accommodate the views of the US and Europe when it comes to such sensitive matters. "Obviously some of these initiatives, especially the American ones -- from what we have been hearing and reading -- seek to rework the Arab curricula altogether. Our education systems could be overhauled, but there are red lines defining what we can and cannot do," said one Arab diplomatic source.
To date, some eight initiatives have been launched, or are in the process of being launched, in relation to the Middle East. The obvious ones are the Powell initiative, the Greater Middle East initiative, the New Neighbourhood initiative, the German initiative and the Partnership for Peace initiative. Prompting worry and dismay from Arab countries, all of these initiatives are primarily focussed on priorities in accord with a Western agenda.
For example, closer political and security cooperation to contain jihadist sentiment is stated as the top objective for the initiative that was launched earlier this month in the Munich Security Conference by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. The same applies to the leaked concept of the Greater Middle East initiative. "But how can they be talking about combating jihad without ending the conflict that prompts jihad?" asked one Palestinian diplomatic source. "If they want an end to jihad then so do we -- we do not want our children to die. But then we will have to reach an end to the conflict that is causing this state of tension and underdevelopment, not only for the Palestinians but for many Arab countries," he added.
Even if these initiatives were all to be accepted, Arab countries still argue that no single model can be applied to all. A case-by-case approach, they say, will have to be used. Some Arab officials have expressed hope that the new initiative currently being drafted by European Union Security and Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana will take their concerns into account. Solana is planning a visit to Cairo on 3 March to conduct talks with Arab foreign ministers on the fringes of the meeting of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers.
Meanwhile, Arab countries say they are not going to sit and wait for others to make plans on their behalf. Arab officials say they can plan their own future and that the first step is to reach a fair, just and comprehensive peace for the region. "This is not to say that we want to put everything else on hold while waiting for this elusive peace but without a just and fair peace there will never be stability in the Middle East," Moussa said. "And so long as Israel is allowed to remain above the boundaries of international law, and get away with it, peace will not be achieved," he added.
The next Arab summit is expected to take some steps towards achieving peace. The Saudi foreign minister has offered a working plan to re-launch a modified and modernised version of the Saudi peace initiative adopted by the Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. This new working plan is likely to be passed by the Tunis Summit. "It is about giving a new momentum to the Beirut peace initiatives with some new creative elements relating to finding a solution to the problem of refugees," one Palestinian diplomatic source said.
