Democracy in the Arab World : Challenges Achievements

In accordance with this mandate to promote sustainable democracy throughout the world, International IDEA has established contacts in the Arab region to explore common areas of interest. Introductory missions to Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Morocco, as well as contacts in Tunisia, have provided preliminary encounters with important stakeholders in the democracy reform process in these countries. The second phase of International IDEA's consultative process was to host a round table in Stockholm to which a group of eminent Arab resource persons was invited. Entitled The Future of Democracy Development in the Arab Region,the round table took place on 28-29 March 1999 and involved participants from all six above mentioned countries. The participants represented a number of interest groups and political viewpoints. The purpose of the round table was two-fold: 1. To discuss future perspectives of democratic development in the region; 2. To develop suggestions for International IDEA's future programmes and activities in support of the democratization process in the region. All participants presented papers discussing the main challenges to democracy and the potential role that an organization such as International IDEA could play. The following pages of these document are a reflection of the main discussions of the round table. The first section presents a brief analysis of the major themes relevant throughout the region. The second section summarizes the substance of the presentations about the various countries. Finally, a framework for International IDEA's programme in the Arab region based on the participants' recommendations concludes this report. International IDEA would like to thank all the participants and contributors to the round table for their efforts and support, which have helped the Institute design its framework for the Arab Region Programme.