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Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-muasher23-2008jul23,0,2937676.story
Bolstering the Arab Center
[ Los Angeles Times] Marwan Muasher - To be a moderate in the Arab world today sometimes feels like an act of courage, and other times like a leap of faith. Sometimes, it's just plain suicidal. And yet, there has never been a time when moderation is more needed in the region than now. Despite the Arab center's efforts to solve the Arab-Israeli issue, its major shortcoming is that it has focused on that one subject. If it is to be popular in Arab eyes, it needs to expand its agenda to other areas of concern - governance, political reform, economic well-being and cultural diversity. The process of opening up political systems in the Arab world - which means democratizing them and making them more transparent - must begin as an alternative to the current stalemate that has trapped Arab citizens between the status quo (dominated by ruling elites that have often failed to deliver development, freedom and good governance to their people) and the more radical forms of political Islam, which many believe would curtail political, social and personal freedoms. The writer is a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan.