Democracy in the Middle East

Today on Rich Karlgaard’s Digital Rules blog the subject of discussion was “Democracy in the Middle East”. I posted a brief one-liner as my response but wanted to give my thoughts about it in greater detail so here goes..

Democracy is not the easiest form of government to establish – and the level of difficulty largely depends on what form of cultural standard you’re moving away from. At minimum, a barebones democracy requires fair elections (in representation and process as well as popular access to information of the issues), party opposition, a fair and accountable government assembly, and most importantly the desire for a democratic state. On this last point there’s every indication that it will take years or possibly decades [if ever] before the general middle eastern population finds the philosophical base to desire a democratic state. One of the real difficulties here is that democracy is not just associated with western culture; The reputed face of democracy is predominantly tied to the U.S. and our historical involvements in the middle east which, as the last decade will show, have only contributed to the enormous lingering suspicions over the nature of our intentions and political objectives. Suspicions that are entirely warranted I'll add.

The vast majority of Middle Eastern populations – while they condemn terrorism – have strongly noted that violence among and against civilians resulting from US-ordinances, US/foreign-aided revolutions and particularly use of US/foreign-supplied weapons, has been of far greater consequence. It’s also been said that the U.S. has subverted much of the regions democratic sentiments by not only supporting autocratic regimes but by publicly supporting some and publicly denouncing Arab nations that support others. A show of biased support, I'll note, resulting from US foreign policy that is heavily burdened by our economic and security interests in the Middle East (i.e., securing oil, support for counterterrorist activities, diplomatic support in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, etc...) and particularly in those regions dominated by autocratic leadership.

The nature of the religion of Islam and the strength and support for cultural tribalism/sheikdoms existing in every nation of the Middle East - is not a small subject matter to trifle with. In our attempt to democratize Iraq, the arrogance in our belief of life-style and intellectual superiority crippled our ability to look at the economic, social and political conditions of the Middle Eastern culture with the level of respect that it deserved. In the Marketing world.. in order to acheive a measurable succuess it's imperative that your marketing strategy is based on a deep-understanding of your target audience - the people, the locality, and environmental conditions. Anything less would preempt failure. Obviously marketing and political restructuring are on two completely different planes but on a broad-level you can apply similar learnings to create a map of success.

All that said, is democracy in the Middle East possible? Maybe but it’s really a moot question until there’s a popular desire for it. On a personal level, I’m of the position that democratization of the Middle East is not an outcome that must be attained. Who said that a democratic government is the best form of government? To say it is the best form of government is not only vain but wholly irresponsible (and just plain dumb). I’ll note that the United States was intended to be founded as a Republic not a Democracy and for a reason.

Winston Churchill says it best....
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter”

So true...so true...