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The Myth of the Arab State

(National Interest) Aaron David Miller - From North Africa to the Levant, a process of state decentralization, perhaps even fragmentation, is underway that will have negative consequences for American interests, and there may be very little the U.S. can do about it. The three elements required for democratic life in any form simply aren't evident in the Arab world: leaders who rise above sectarian, religious and ethnic affiliations and govern in the best interests of the nation as a whole; institutions that are deemed authoritative, legitimate and inclusive and not mere playthings in the elites' struggle for power; and an accommodative process that contains and manages even the bitterest of debates without spilling over into violence or political pressures that paralyze national life. The writer, a Distinguished Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, served as an adviser to U.S. secretaries of state on Arab-Israeli negotiations.
2013-05-23 00:00:00
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