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Democracy Without Borders Rami G. Khouri April 13, 2005 Rami G. Khouri is editor at large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper,= published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune. ____________________ I have spent the last three days in Doha, Qatar, participating in a rich di= scussion among 150 Americans and citizens from Islamic countries around the world, which h= as clarified a few important trends in American-Islamic world relations. The center of gra= vity of the public debate about the Arab-Islamic world, and between Americans and Musli= ms, is slowly shifting. It is moving away from wars for regime change and clashes = of civilizations, into a discussion of democracy and reform. Most intriguingly and significan= tly, a core issue in this global debate became more clear to me and many other particip= ants here at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, organized by the State of Qatar and the Saban= Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. It is t= he issue of whether, and how, to include Islamist parties and groups in the democratic = process. As Arab and Islamic societies become more democratic, the most credible, or= ganized and legitimate groups in society are likely to be Islamist parties like Hezboll= ah, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. If they are denied participation in elections=97or denied= incumbency if they win=97the democratic process will prove to be a sham. But, it is also as= ked, can they participate in politics and share in power if they remain armed? Significan= tly, the core of the debate now is not about whether these groups should participate politic= ally, but how they can do so in a manner that is acceptable to all concerned. Other dimensions of the shifting debate are also clearer these days. These = include greater stress on how to promote reform in Arab-Asian-Islamic societies, expand the= circle of participants in pluralistic, democratic politics, adjust economic and educa= tional policies to support development and security, and understand better the centrality for = Arabs and Muslims of resolving the Palestine issue fairly. Participants here frankly aired and debated their views, but in=A0a spirit an= d context that were markedly different from similar gatherings in previous years. Democrat= ic reforms have more rapidly emerged as the central pivot around which most of the dis= cussion now revolves, while the mutual criticisms and complaints remain largely the sam= e. Political leaders and civil society activists need to grasp and act on this= novelty: the promotion of democracy and economic reforms in Arab-Islamic countries provi= des an unprecedented opportunity for people from both societies to work together f= or goals they share, to redress problems they both suffer from, and to achieve results th= at will benefit them all. Never in recent generations have Arabs, Americans and Muslims bee= n able to rally around a single, shared political goal that they all perceive to be l= egitimate, urgent, useful and practicable. Much has happened in the three years since the 9/11 attacks against targets= in the United States, the two years since the United States used its armed forces to chan= ge the regimes in two Islamic countries, and=A0more than=A0a decade after the "clash of civili= zations" question was raised by Samuel Huntington. The small but clear shifts in the core dis= course between concerned Americans and Muslims and Arabs has been in the making for=A0more t= han=A0a decade. It has only been clarified in the past=A0nine months or so, due to a = combination of factors. Some of the most important ones include: American-engineered deeds and failures in Iraq; Washington's predatory, aggressive global policy since 9/11, and the world'= s equally strong defiance and resistance to unilateral American militarism; the slow = reconciliation and revived partnership for global action between the United States=A0and Europe; more dynamic indigenous Arab movements for democratic ch= ange and freedom in response to collective Arab mediocrity in the governance field; = a stronger American embrace of the policy of promoting freedom and democracy; fears ab= out the growing scourge and expanding scope of terrorism; and, a global emphasis on= the centrality of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict for promoting other mutually identified goals in the Arab-Islamic world. The shifts are discernible but not gigantic, significant but not yet decisi= ve. They are important to acknowledge and nurture, however, because they may offer the e= dge of a thin thread that Americans, Arabs, Asians and Muslims can grasp and weave into a= strong rope that can pull them all out of their cycle of anger, fear and war. This is a= challenge that will require the best of Americans and citizens and leaders in Islamic societies= . An important element in the slow change that may be taking place in how Ame= ricans and Arabs/Muslims deal with each other is a growing appreciation for the fact t= hat the rules of internal democracy in one country must apply to relations among countries=97a= nd the expansion of democratic societies around the world. Specifically=97as many Ar= abs and Muslims repeatedly told Americans here this week=97all countries have to abid= e by a universal set of rules and norms, just as all citizens of a democracy shoul= d enjoy equal rights and obligations. This means that the United States and Israel, for example, cannot set their= own rules on issues related to security or weapons of mass destruction proliferation, an= d expect the rest of the world to accept lower standards of security or national rights.= A credible democratic culture, it was stressed here, requires that all citizens within= a state, as well as all countries in the world, abide by common legal norms. We are far from achieving this condition, but movement is toward that direc= tion=97and toward closer positions, after many years of Arabs, Americans and Muslims m= oving in different directions and often shooting each other on the way. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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