Middle East prospects are grim
POSTED AT
09:07 PM ON Nov. 17, 2009
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Given the instability of the political climates in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s easy to be pessimistic about the chances of any legitimate, representative form of democracy enduring in those regions.
We believe that under the current circumstances, honest successful policy-making and long-term implementation within these countries is going to be an uphill battle. This should be a reality that students are aware of.
In Afghanistan, the government’s survival is first and foremost contingent upon defense against the Taliban. If they succeed at this – an outcome that, as many who are familiar with the situation believe, seems doubtful – then they’ll have to wrestle with internal affairs.
As Professor Abdulkader Sinno pointed out at this past weekend’s “State Building in the Contemporary Islamic World” conference hosted at the Indiana Memorial Union, NATO and the coalition forces are trying to sell Afghanistan on a bad product: a corrupt government.
Iraq has struggled with similar problems in its infant democracy. Recent reports have shown that many Iraqi government officials have been hijacking some or all of their workers’ salaries, and bribing of security officers is suspected to have played a key role in the success of the three car bombings at the Justice, Foreign and Finance Ministry buildings.
Last weekend’s conference drew in many of the world’s leading experts about Iraq and Afghanistan, including Dr. Sima Samar, chairwoman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, as well as Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi, an ambassador to Iraq and one of the principle authors of the country’s interim constitution.
Most of the conference’s attendees expressed doubt about the prospects of legitimate lawmaking in both countries.
In addition to the apparent widespread fraud, graft and patronage present within the Afghani government (a problem that allows the Taliban an opportunity for exploitation), it is becoming clear that a truly representative democracy is not necessarily a popular idea among the political elite there.
Dr. Samar said the Afghani government has done little to address women’s rights, the lack of which was apparently of chief concern according to the justifications offered by the United States for intervening in Afghanistan in the first place.
Needless to say, the conference was a bit disheartening. To add to the somber prognosis that seems generally accepted among the distinguished participants, we are somewhat disillusioned by the overwhelming lack of student interest in these issues. Very few undergraduates are even aware of the complex issues facing the governments of Afghanistan and Iraq, issues of the utmost importance considering our stake in their success.
The future of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan is certainly a complicated matter, and this conference was a valuable opportunity to gain an illuminating, if incredibly pessimistic, analysis from leading experts on the countries.