Between us
An agenda of reform presumes open ears all round, including openness to outside suggestions, though the true impetus must always emanate from within, writes Ibrahim Nafie
The past few weeks brought an intensification of Arab and international diplomatic moves aimed primarily at resolving the explosive situations in occupied Palestine and Iraq. Concurrently, the regional and international spotlight has turned increasingly on refreshing the Arab League and its member nations.
In addition to the many Arab proposals and initiatives in this regard, both the US and the EU have devised proposals of their own. Although the two aspire to accomplish the same ends, there is a vast difference in approach. Washington's one-sided, pre-formulated blueprint for a so-called "Greater Middle East" contrasts sharply with the EU's preference for a framework of partnership that engages European and Arab officials an a dynamic process of dialogue and mutual understanding.
I recently had the opportunity to discuss many of the ideas being floated with political, media and intellectual figures in the Gulf during my recent tour there to commemorate the first anniversary of the Al-Ahram Arab World edition. I also had the opportunity to obtain a closer insight into the European perspective on Arab reform and other crucial issues in this region during President Hosni Mubarak's recent tour of Italy, France and Britain. It was a pleasure to observe how the president handled this trip. The president carried with him nothing less than a comprehensive and solidly Arab vision for handling the complex and intertwined concerns of this region. In the course of responding to the ideas and proposals put to him during his meetings, he succeeded in laying out the components of this vision with a coherence that rendered the logic of the Arab perspective undeniable. In so doing, he presented a model for Arab diplomacy. Through this deftly-handled process of give and take, Mubarak succeeded in conveying the Arab message not only to officials in the three capitals he visited, but to the larger body of European public opinion through the many press interviews he held during this tour.
The fruits of the president's trip were readily apparent in the receptiveness with which his European interlocutors entertained his ideas and perspective on the central issues of the Middle East and various reform initiatives. Particularly noteworthy was the understanding they showed for the need of striking a balance between reform and stability in the Arab world. Mubarak drove home the point that while reform in the Arab world is both urgently needed and ardently desired, much rests on the pace at which the reform process is conducted. Excessive haste, he cautioned, would generate chaos and raise the spectre of widespread turmoil and perhaps violence. Reform, therefore, cannot come in the form of a pre-conceived blueprint to be applied across the board, but rather must be adapted to the individual circumstances and realities of each Arab country.
Mubarak made two further points clear during his many interviews with officials and the press in Europe. The first was that a resolution to the Palestinian issue and the whole Arab-Israeli conflict is a prerequisite for eliminating the spectre of terrorism and unleashing the forces of reform in the region. Any attempt to sidestep this issue, he said, would ultimately prove counterproductive. For as long as this conflict is not brought to a just and comprehensive resolution it will remain perhaps the foremost obstacle to reform and regional security. The second point was that reform in the Arab world must be a homegrown process. Any outside initiatives that sincerely seek to promote this process must take this into account and, thus, be formulated on the basis of a constructive and open-minded dialogue with the Arab countries concerned. It should always be borne in mind that solutions imposed from above are not solutions at all, but rather recipes for disaster.
That the European leaders with whom Mubarak met during his tour fully appreciated these points is evident in the EU initiative prepared by France and Germany. To be presented in the EU summit on 25 March, this initiative confirms both the need to resolve the Palestinian and Iraqi issues and the need for constructive dialogue as the basis of any reform project concerning the Arab world. This factor, alone, compels Arabs to deal with it positively. Simultaneously, it should drive home to Washington that reform cannot be dictated from the top down, that the heavy-handed approach can only backfire with dire consequences for all.
However, Arab governments must be much more than mere consultants in the formulation and development of reform initiatives and the eventual executive agencies for these initiatives. Ultimately, it is their responsibility to ensure that the direction and management of the reform process remains in their hands. Towards this end, they must lay the groundwork for the frameworks of inter-Arab cooperation that will ensure the ultimate efficacy of any reform project. Also, to give impetus to any overarching Arab reform project, each government bears the onus of sustaining the reform projects that are already under way in their countries. After all, reform is an ongoing, evolutionary process, as Egyptian experience testifies. As President Mubarak has pointed out on numerous occasions, Egypt began its current reform drive years ago, long before this current flurry of initiatives, because this drive emanated naturally from the circumstances and developmental needs of our country. As for those countries that have yet to institute a reform project of their own or whose projects have backslided, it is time that they get the ball rolling.
In short, Arabs must take the initiative and work to keep the initiative in our hands. This, however, does not mean that we should not be open to ideas and proposals coming from abroad. On the contrary, it is important to interact positively with all initiatives in the interest of developing a common vision. Indeed, I believe the time is right to take a closer look at the US-sponsored "Greater Middle East" project, but only on the condition that it is firmly understood that this project must be broached from a comprehensive platform of Arab national interests and concerns.
At this juncture, Arabs have another important task before them, which is to generate the climate that will stimulate closer and more effective inter-Arab cooperation. As I said last week, Arab governments, as well as private individuals and groups, have produced a wealth of ideas and concrete proposals to draw on for the reform of the Arab League and its constituent bodies. As many of these ideas and proposals will be under consideration in the forthcoming Arab summit in Tunis, it seems appropriate here to underscore a number of fundamental principles concerning inter-Arab collaboration. These principles derive from an analysis of the generally dismal Arab record in regional cooperation as opposed to Europe's impressive success in this domain over the same period.
Firstly, the Arabs must resolve to eliminate once and for all any notion of recourse to force in their mutual relations. Any disputes that arise among them, regardless of the passions they stir, must be resolved through peaceful means that may range from direct negotiations to arbitration. This, naturally, entails developing the relevant political, organisational and legal structures, including the establishment of an Arab Court of Justice, which is one of the proposals at hand for developing the Arab League. It also entails creating the procedures and machinery for enforcing the principle of non-aggression.
Secondly, Arab officials and opinion pundits must abandon that impractical and unrealistic all-or-nothing and all-at-once approach that ensured that such projects as the Arab Common Market and the Mutual Arab Defence Pact remained no more than ink on paper. We have much to learn, here, from the European experience, which evolved gradually in ever expanding circles, from a range of limited agreements between a handful of nations to the European Union we see today. Moreover, even after a half century of evolution, the EU has not yet reached a joint defence agreement even if work towards this end has not abated. The arduous negotiations involved in drafting the EU constitution alone supplies a host of concrete lessons in the business of forging a viable edifice for regional integration.
The third principle is to broaden the scope of participation. Experts in political affairs, law, economics and other fields have important contributions to offer in the formulation of viable structures and projects for inter-Arab cooperation. This point was driven home to me at the recent Al-Ahram seminar in Dubai on Egyptian-Gulf relations, during which I was impressed by the mere range and scope of ideas for stimulating and promoting Arab cooperation. At the same time, I was sobered by the severity of the criticism levelled at current performance of Arab economic cooperation as manifested in the paltry figures of inter-Arab trade. Simply to consider this reality in the context of countries that are supposedly to come together in an Arab Common Market throws into relief the extent of the gap between theory as laid down in the text of their agreement and actual practice.
The fourth principle, which stems directly from the foregoing, is that the institutional frameworks and structures for Arab cooperation must be scaled to realities on the ground. The importance of this principle cannot be overestimated, for the lack of harmony between structural systems and concrete realities only produces cacophony and, ultimately, public dissatisfaction and, perhaps, despair. For example, there have been bitter disputes between Arab countries that could not be resolved within the existing inter-Arab organisational frameworks and were therefore brought to international bodies for arbitration or mediation. This, in turn, worked to further undermine public confidence in the ability of Arab governments to collaborate effectively towards a common goal.
If we take the above-mentioned principles to heart, there should be no reason why we cannot seize the present to give a significant boost to the scope and quality of Arab cooperation. Looking back on our own experience and at that of such successful projects as the EU and ASEAN we also have a number of key words to keep us on course. Among these are realism and the respect for the individuality of every Arab country.
