On 30 Jan 2011, at 18:40, underscore <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/30/11, Ingrid Srinath <[email protected]> wrote: >>> the regime, yes -- its a matter of survival. but, i dont think there >>> is even a single protestor who >>> is out there in indignant anger because the americans reduced funding >>> for some civil society groups.... >>> >> >> Absolutely, but choking off the channels that press for democratic reform, >> social justice etc. leaves people with no avenue but insurrection. And the >> signal the regime received was that the new US administration cared less >> about democratic reform than the Bush administration did. >> > > I am not disagreeing with you on the above -- what I am trying to say > is that these channels did not begin-to-exist / cease-to-exist because > of the US cutting funds for civil society groups. > > All such funds are channeled via USAID ...which does not fund anything > remotely smelling of dissidence or having an incendiary agenda. They > typically support the powder-puff change-the-world seminar / > conference kind of project revolving around themes like : urban > poverty, upliftment of women, infant mortality etc [In my part of the > world the favorite is : youth empowerment, and FGM ]. They are there > not just in Egypt, but in every "strategically" important 3rd world > outpost. No one cares about these programs ...neither a regime worried > about policy shift ...or the US government. > > > This sentence is from a USAID audit of their own democracy projects in > Egypt in 2008 : > > "the impact of USAid/Egypt's democracy and governance programmes was > unnoticeable in indexes describing the country's democratic > environment" (page 2, link below -- also has a description of a > typical "seminar" run by USAID) > > <http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/africa/egypts-democracy-groups-fear-shift-in-us-policy-will-harm-their-work> > > So, the obama administration decided to do the smart thing : save > money and shut down some of these programs. The only ones i think, > willing to come and throw stones for this indignation are American > commentators on huffington post. > > More interesting is this foreign policy report -- which i believe > appeared in the economist sometime back --- but is available un-gated > here : > > <http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2010/10_middle_east_hamid.aspx> > quote: > ".... the hype surrounding the Bush “freedom agenda” – which included > the creation of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and a > doubling of National Endowment for Democracy funding – obscured the > fundamental reality that American, as well as European, financial > assistance has been just as limited as the NGOs and political groups > it has tried to support...." > > quote: > "As for political groups or movements, they generally have not > received US assistance. Such groups are obviously more controversial > as their goals extend well beyond the mandate of NGOs, which are > relatively small and focused on more limited objectives. In Egypt, > this includes groups such as Kifaya, April 6, the National Association > for Change, and the Muslim Brotherhood. None have received U.S. > funding. " > In sum, there was a policy change that you believe had no impact. My own conversations with Egyptian activists from a range of organisations suggest otherwise. From small but significant groups operating in a hostile environment, the reactions I heard when the change was implemented were of abandonment and despair.
