Jordanian, American Youth Discuss US Democracy Promotion

Jordanian, American Youth Discuss US Democracy Promotion

by Ramsey G. Tesdell
The Jordan Times
April 20, 2007

AMMAN, April 20 — HRH Prince Hassan on Thursday said democracy is a universal and relative concept and no nation or society can claim ownership over the values and precepts of democracy.

The Prince made the remarks at the opening of the “US Democracy Strategy: An American-Jordanian Dialogue,” which brought together Jordanian and American youth to discuss US democracy promotion and develop strategies on how to enable Jordanians to work more effectively for democratic change.

Highlighting that democracy is “a process and a condition, not merely the show of vote-casting,” Prince Hassan said a “national form of democratic government does not necessarily translate into international democratic conduct or conduct in international relations that is in conformity with the preservation of peace or observance of international legality.”

“Democracy cannot exist without civil society. Civil society cannot exist without a population that has the will and capacity to act in defense of its values and institutions. We need to create a society of stakeholders… We must create the institutions and structures needed to transform the values of democracy into processes,” the Prince added.

An ideologically and geographically diverse group of 25 American and 25 Middle Eastern participants between the ages of 21-28 are taking part in the three-day event, a combined effort between the Americans for Informed Democracy, the Project on Middle East Democracy and the Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Centre (UJRC).

Panel discussions will focus on measuring democracy, women's democratic participation, engaging political Islam and regional impacts on reform. The results of a poll conducted by the University of Jordan's Centre for Strategic Studies, which indicated that a significant percentage of Jordanians do not believe that the US wants democracy in Jordan, was discussed at one of the sessions.

Senator Laila Sharaf questioned America's role in developing democracy, citing examples in Palestine and Iraq.

“In Palestine, Hamas was a democratically elected government… The United States, instead of rewarding a democratic system, turned their back on the newly elected government,” said Sharaf.

“The Abu Ghraib scandal highlighted everything that is contrary to the discourse of pursing democracy. In Jordan, we find resistance to some initiatives because they are seen as furthering American policies,” she added. Lina Ejeilat, one of the participants, said she was encouraged by the discussion but hoped something more would come out of the conference.

“It is good to have a dialogue, but if nothing comes from it, people get frustrated and cynical and nobody wants that,” Ejeilat told The Jordan Times. Dialogue has always been the key to resolving problems, avoiding armed conflicts and removing misunderstanding between opposing parties, according to May Al Taher, executive director of the Jordanian Forum for Economic Development at the UJRC.

“The image of the US is somehow distorted in the Arab world, and among youth in particular, mainly because of the state foreign policy towards the region. Thus, people perceive it difficult to believe that the US seeks to promote democracy in the Middle East and in Jordan,” said Taher.

She added that UJRC has been working for democratic development, political reform and civil participation in Jordan and the Arab world since 1990, with a stated goal of “developing a democratic and civil culture among youth.”

David DeBartolo, a member of the organizing committee and a Fulbright scholar in Amman, said that one of the goals of the dialogue is to bring Jordanians and Americans together and agree on recommendations that could be used to form foreign policy.

“I feel that Americans don't listen to the people of the Middle East when forming policy on the region. We are trying to have an honest and authentic dialogue. We hope the recommendations that this conference will create will be used to develop a common interest,” DeBartolo said.