How Arab Regimes Resist Democracy

In a recent piece published by the Carnegie Endowment, Amr Hamzawy writes that the lack of reform and democratization in the Arab world is due to increased and extensive security spending by Arab governments, as well as to regimes’ efforts to discourage reform by warning citizens that change would “threaten order and stability and unleash chaos.” Additionally, Hamzawy points out that opposition leaders have consistently failed to deliver a substantive message of tangible change, while Islamist groups remain more interested in enhancing their “ideological and religious agenda” than in improving people’s lives. Lastly, Hamzawy argues that the small group of Arab elites who dominate these regimes has formed a bond based on “common interests,” limiting the emergence of internal conflicts that would threaten the status quo. In conclusion, Hamzawy suggests that the U.S. and its European allies should push for democratization in the Middle East, asserting that “democracy is the only sustained path for development, moderation, and peace.”