2008: What The Gulf Countries Want

During a trip over to Qatar and UAE, Richard Haass and Martin Indyk sat down with a number of “leading policymakers” in the two countries and talked over the future of U.S. policy in the region, and what they might expect from the next U.S. president.  Haass and Indyk’s concluding quote on democracy promotion:

“It is clear from these discussions that, notwithstanding the missteps and back-tracking of the Bush Administration, the language of political and economic reform is now common currency in the region.  One Islamist explained that he had come around to accepting the argument of some scholars that Islam required governments to be accountable to their people. Nevertheless, Gulf policymakers worried that a renewed effort at democracy promotion would undermine the Egyptian and Saudi regimes, something the region could not afford.  They argued that the next president should press the regimes in private and adopt a nuanced approach suited to each country’s circumstances.”