*Topicality/Definitions Democracy Promotion Includes Military Intervention
AT: Civil Society in the Middle East Promotes Islamic Politics and Ideology
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- *Should Target Democracy Promotion Toward Women*
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AT: Civil Society in the Middle East Promotes Islamic Politics and IdeologyISLAMIC CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS DO NOT PUSH AN IDEOLOGICALLY ISLAMIC AGENDA Francesco Cavatorta & Vincent Durac, International Relations Lecturers Dublin City University and University College Dublin, 2011, Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World: the dynamics of activism, p. 26 In her seminal work, Clark (2004) examines Islamic social institutions and how they operate in the provision of social welfare. She argues that “Islamic social institutions represent a moderate response not only to the secular state’s inability to provide social welfare services but against the secular state as well.” This ideological and teleological goal, however, has to be pursued within the structural realities and constraints render Islamist associations not so different to their secular counterparts. There are two important conclusions that Clark makes. First, while it is confirmed that Islamic social institutions are more active than their secular counterparts and, at times, more active than the state itself in providing welfare services, their activism does not present tangible Islamic ideological references. Thus, “there is no conscious attempt to create the foundations for an Islamic vision of society.’ This means that the way in which Islamic charities are run responds more to demands of efficiency than to political or ideological requisites. Organizational matters, efficient delivery of service and the long-term sustainability of the association itself are much more relevant than “planting the seeds of a new understanding of state and society.” The conventional wisdom that such Islamic institutions are a significant recruiting ground for the Islamist political project and that they are purely ideological actors bent on propagating a political message is proven misleading. The organizations are very much aware of the environment they operate in and make the necessary compromises in order to fulfill their primary objectives, which are not necessarily political. In fact, what makes such institutions Islamic is simply the belief of many individuals involved that they “are promoting Islam through their work.” The second important finding is that Islamic charities are very much a middle-class phenomenon and are run by and for middle-class professionals. While Clark acknowledges that such charities do not have programs for the poor, their primary function is to employ and serve middle-class professionals and families that the state cannot or will not support. Against conventional wisdom again, the vast masses of poor and disenfranchised are not organically integrated in an Islamist political and social project. Rather, “the poor…are excluded from the social networks which lie at the heart of the Islamist movement.”
Increased Role of Women Key to Progress for Mideast CountriesNO REAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST UNTIL WOMEN’S STATUS HAS BEEN IMPROVED Marina Ottaway, Carnegie Endowment, 2005, Unchartered Journey: promoting democracy in the middle east, eds. T. Carothers & M. Ottaway, p. 115-6 The new U.S. focus on women’s rights and the position of women in the Arab world in general received strong encouragement by the publication of the United Nations Development Program’s Arab Human Development Report 2002. Signed by a number of prominent Arab intellectuals, the report drew a dismal picture of a region lagging behind the rest of the world because of major deficits in freedom, women’s empowerment, and education. The report argued that the deficit in women’s empowerment was not simply a problem of justice and equity, but a major cause of the Arab world’s backwardness. “The utilization of Arab women’s capabilities through political and economic participation remains the lowest in the world in quantitative terms, as evidenced by the very low share of women in parliaments, cabinets, and the work force, and in the trend toward the feminization of unemployment,” the report explained. “Society as a whole suffers when a huge proportion of its productive potential is stifled…” The argument has since been repeated by President George W. Bush and administration officials. “No society can succeed and prosper while denying basic rights to the women of their country,” declared President Bush in a May 2003 commencement speech at the University of South Carolina. Secretary of State Colin Powell echoed the sentiment, arguing: “Until the countries of the Middle East unleash the abilities and potential of their women, they will not build a future of hope.” *Democracy Assistance to Egypt Good*Egypt Needs Civil Society AssistanceEGYPTIAN CIVIL SOCIETY WEAK Robert Bowker, Center for Arab & Islamic Studies, Australian National University, 2013, American Democracy Promotion in the Changing Middle East: From Bush to Obama, eds. Akbarzadeh, MacQueen, Piscattori & Saikal, p. 123-4 Depending of course on specific social and economic contexts, but especially beyond a narrowly based, somewhat Westernized middle class, the authoritarian character of patriarchal family structures is still a deeply ingrained Egyptian social value. It is eroding only slowly under the influence of the internet. Those values lend themselves to reinforcement of a public education system which, in the words of the Arab Human Development Report 2005, ‘comes in, after the parents, with a pedagogy that reproduces and instils the dominant social model of obedience, obscurantism and violence.’ Egyptian civil society is weak and divided.
Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State-Near Eastern Affairs, 2011, House Hearing: Assessing U.S. Foreign Policy Priorities and Needs Amidst Economic Challenges in the Middle East, March 01, [http://www.hcfa.house.gov/112/65055.pdf], p. 9 Our assistance to Egypt was invaluable in maintaining our relationship with Egypt’s military and civil society during the recent events there. And these relationships will remain critical in helping Egypt remain on a positive trajectory as Egyptians seek to consolidate their historic gains and implement essential democratic reforms. Directory: assets assets -> Northern territory of australia assets -> Number: caveat in the [Will/Will and Codicil/Estate of] assets -> Invitation for Bid Calact/mbta for Standard Floor and Low Floor Rural Duty Vehicles ifb no. 12-03 November 14, 2012 assets -> 12 Step Retreats For Everyone in Twelve Step Recovery Ratner Fellowship assets -> 12 Step Retreats For Everyone in Twelve Step Recovery Ratner Fellowship assets -> Sigaccess annual Report assets -> Central Government is expected to ask the seventh pay commission to consider merging 50% dearness allowance assets -> List of accessible executive records assets -> Emergency telephone numbers Call toll-free from anywhere in France Download 2.51 Mb. Share with your friends:
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