Independent Task Force Report

In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How

Vin Weber

Madeleine K. Albright
U.S. Secretary of State

Council on Foreign Relations, June 08, 2005

A Council-sponsored Task Force, In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How, says that the United States should support the evolutionary development of democracy consistently throughout the Middle East. It points out that a strategy to promote democracy entails inherent risks, but that "the denial of freedom carries much more significant long-term dangers."

The Task Force, comprised of leading regional, economic, diplomatic, and business experts, finds that democracy promotion is the best means to achieve stability in the Middle East as well as important in restoring America's credibility in the Arab world. It is also consistent with American ideals. The report states that democracy will not resolve the problem of terrorism entirely, but that "more open political environments will likely weaken the pull of extremist ideologies that fuel violence."

The independent, bipartisan Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and former Congressman Vin Weber (R-MN) and directed by Council Next Generation Fellow Steven A. Cook, cautions that "if the new policy is implemented in ways that are superficial, halfhearted, underfunded, and inconsistent, it will yield new allegations of hypocrisy and further damage relations between the United States and Arab populations."

Members of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Reform in the Arab World

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