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Arab and American Think Tanks: New Possibilities for Cooperation? New Engines for Reform?

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Arab and American Think Tanks: New Possibilities for Cooperation? New Engines for Reform? THE BROOKINGS PROJECT ON U.S. POLICY TOWARDS THE ISLAMIC WORLD WORKING PAPER October 2004 ARAB AND AMERICAN THINK TANKS: NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR COOPERATION? NEW ENGINES FOR REFORM? EZZAT IBRAHIM T HE S ABAN C ENTER FOR M IDDLE E AST P OLICY AT T HE B ROOKINGS I NSTITUTION THE BROOKINGS PROJECT ON U.S. POLICY TOWARDS THE ISLAMIC WORLD WORKING PAPER October 2004 ARAB AND AMERICAN THINK TANKS: NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR COOPERATION? NEW ENGINES FOR REFORM? EZZAT IBRAHIM T HE S ABAN C ENTER FOR M IDDLE E AST P OLICY AT T HE B ROOKINGS I NSTITUTION THE AUTHOR EZZAT IBRAHIM is a foreign affairs journalist for the Towards the Islamic World at the Saban Center for Egyptian daily Al-Ahram,a leading Arabic language Middle East Policy, during the fall and winter of 2003. newspaper in the Middle East. Ibrahim is the first For the spring and summer of 2004, he served as a Egyptian and Middle Eastern journalist to receive the Congressional Fellow in the office of Representative prestigious Fulbright Congressional Fellowship award, Jim McDermott (D-Washington). Ibrahim has a a one-year program organized by the Fulbright Masters degree from the Graduate School of Social Commission and the American Political Science Science, Sussex University (United Kingdom) and Association in the U.S. Congress. He served as a a B.A. from the faculty of mass communication, Cairo Visiting Fellow for The Brookings Project on U.S. Policy University. III INTRODUCTION n the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the a catalyst for reform. Civil society refers to the zone I relationship between the United States and the of voluntary associative life beyond family and clan Arab world has reached a low point. Since then, the affiliations but separate from the state and the market.1 official America—the U.S. administration—has Think tanks, which are research and outreach organi- sought a credible partner in the Middle East to fight zations dedicated to public policy, are an important terrorism, promote reform, and enhance the image of part of the civil society world. Think tanks, as a global the United States in the region. However, given the phenomenon, have gathered momentum since the end tense relations on the governmental level, these goals of the Cold War and the subsequent rise of democratic might be better pursued by the unofficial America— regimes worldwide. Such organizations flourish in a U.S. think tanks, media, and other civil society healthy democratic political system. In turn, democracy groups—working with their counterparts in Arab flourishes along side a strong, independent civil society to promote a common reform agenda that can society, with think tanks playing an important role of strengthen relations on a societal level. connecting ideas and research with the government, the public, and the media. Recently, the United States has taken a strong interest in Arab political and economic reform. While the Among civil society organizations, think tanks are United States and other Western powers have devel- particularly well-situated to develop new ideas oped reform initiatives on their own, such as the pertaining to political, social, and economic reform in Greater Middle East Initiative and the Middle East the Arab world. The role of think tanks in society is to Partnership Initiative, the Arab world has, internally, seek access to, and ideally improve, the policymaking also begun to place a high priority on reform, evident process by injecting new ideas into the debate. In in such documents as the Sanaa Declaration and the order for any reform initiative to be successful in the Alexandria Declaration. Middle East (particularly outside initiatives offered by the United States or Europe) it must be subject to With reform on the minds of both Western and Arab domestic debate. Thus, with the current surge scholars, policymakers, and government officials of Western reform initiatives, an opportunity has alike, now is the time to examine the role of Arab civil blossomed that can empower the Arab world’s society organizations, and think tanks in particular, as research institutions, which have long suffered from 1Amy Hawthorne, “Middle East Democracy: Is Civil Society the Answer?” Carnegie Papers 44, (March 2004). 1 direct governmental intervention and a lack of Arab think tanks hold the potential to play their own, sufficient funds. effective role in supporting positive change. This paper will explore the growing potential of Arab Arab civil society as a force for change should be taken think tanks as a catalyst for reform and examine the with reservation, as the civil infrastructures are still current advancements in some of the region’s notable premature and the traditional forces (the clergy, institutions, to discover to what extent such fledging Islamic radical groups, and the political elites) continue organizations might contribute to reform projects in to play a major role in squeezing out and suppressing the Arab world. This paper will also examine the civil society organizations. Furthermore, Arab civil Middle East programs in U.S. think tanks, post- society organizations are often ineffective for one of September 11, to explore the possibilities of expanding two reasons. First, several of them remain heavily U.S.-Arab think tank cooperation in the future. controlled by the state. The lack of professionalism, funding, and the heavy-hand of the regime propel Civil society organizations play an important role in these think tanks to adopt a conciliatory approach defining the relationship between the United States towards the regime’s requirements. That reconciliatory and the Arab world. The U.S. “war on terrorism” has approach not only negates the possibility of challeng- negatively impacted America’s image both within Arab ing the repressive regimes, but also is harmful to civil governments as well as on the Arab street. The tradi- society as a whole. On the other side, organizations tional Arab regimes have no choice but to accept the that have achieved autonomy from the state are often new American priority. But, the Arab street, as well as accused of being puppets of Western governments and the majority of Arab intellectuals, has turned against NGOs, and even international donors, thereby damag- the effort following the American invasion of ing their credibility at home. Afghanistan and Iraq. They consider the military campaigns as a form of neo-colonialization, especially The challenge, therefore, is to identify the ways that in the case of Iraq. The majority of liberal Arab Arab think tanks can support reform by developing researchers and intellectuals work for semi-official or new programs, expanding on existing programs, and quasi-independent research centers; their support for by improving the U.S.-Arab think tank partnership. U.S. reform initiatives has eroded since the American To do so, it is worthwhile to examine the history of intervention in Iraq. The lack of consensus on how Arab think tanks as well as the Middle East-focused to handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has further programs in U.S. think tanks, in order to better under- complicated the U.S.-Arab relationship, as the war on stand the potential path forward. terrorism brought forth a dramatic shift in U.S. policy towards the Middle East. These factors have added obstacles to the way American and Arab think tanks approach each other. The rise of anti-Americanism, the deterioration of the U.S. image, the uncertainty in Iraq, and the continua- tion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have all made it more difficult to secure a constructive discourse between Arab elites and their American counterparts. That said, American and Arab think tanks do still have the opportunity engage in a cooperative dialogue, which could be of mutual benefit. At the same time, 2Arab and American Think Tanks: New Possibilities for Cooperation? New Engines for Reform? PART I: ARAB THINK TANKS: THREE DECADES OF EVOLUTION uring the past three decades, the Middle East •Providing timely information to the Arab people, D has experienced a think tank boom.2 The especially to the small group of intellectuals and development of Arab think tanks began in the late policymakers in the Arab World. 1960s. The first think tanks focused mainly on •Changing the way Arab leaders and intellectuals the Arab-Israeli conflict and began with the establish- conceive of politics and policymaking. In the past, ment of al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic political discourse rested mostly on ideology, law, Studies (ACPSS) in Egypt in 1968. During the and philosophy.3 Think tanks, however, have next thirty years, political and economic liberalization introduced a new discourse that is more concerned in the Arab world opened the door for individuals with gathering facts and research than with just and groups to create new foundations for abstract concepts. promoting democracy, fighting illiteracy and •Removing policy-analysis from the field of ideology poverty, projecting civil society advancements, and and morality and evaluating policy in terms of empowering women. cost-benefit analysis.4 •Familiarizing the intellectual elite with foreign Currently, there are more than 80 think tanks in the trends and policies. This has been particularly useful Middle East (including Israel, Turkey, and Iran). in de-mythologizing the enemy, something that is During the last ten years, the number of think tanks in central to a successful settlement between Israel and the Arab Middle East has doubled; the average age of the Arabs.5 think tanks is eleven years. The first generation of think tanks aimed at rein- Arab think tanks have taken many important steps forcing Arab unity and addressing common Arab toward promoting political liberalization throughout concerns. Over time, think tanks evolved to reflect the past 35 years.
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