MERIP Media Resource List, December 10, 2004

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS on the following topics:
Assessing US efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East:
- "Forum for the Future" summit in Morocco, December 11
- Elections in Iraq

SHEILA CARAPICO
Sheila Carapico is professor of political science at the University of Richmond, where she teaches international relations and political economy, and is a member of the editorial committee of Middle East Report . Her current research is a critical examination of Western and international programs designed to promote democracy and civil society in the Arab world. Commenting on the BMENA Forum for the Future summit in Morocco tomorrow, Carapico said today: "Questionable logic underlies US plans to shift emphasis at the Forum for the Future summit from the original goal of furthering democratization in the Middle East toward projects designed to open Arab markets to outside firms. This policy shift falls back on the old idea that private enterprise automatically favors political liberalization, despite evidence from Russia and Ukraine that unfettered markets don't necessarily underpin open elections and a decent system of justice. The debacle of the recent Ukrainian elections after over a decade of American and European democracy promotion efforts should caution us against optimistic projections of how Western influence can further the cause of Arab democratization."

CHRIS TOENSING
Chris Toensing is editor of Middle East Report and director of the Middle East Research and Information Project. Commenting on elections in Iraq Toensing said today: "Iraq's planned January elections will probably happen on schedule and will probably be dubbed 'successful' by the US and its Iraqi proxy politicians. But they will not resolve the political question looming behind the headlines -- how different Iraqi parties define democracy. This vital debate is only postponed by the US-sponsored electoral process and the continued US occupation."

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