2006年VOA标准英语-Economic Forum Debates Political Change in

By Challiss McDonough
Sharm el-Sheikh
22 May 2006

Many Arab countries are in the midst of reforms designed to diversify¹ and strengthen their economies. But the pace of political reform varies from country to country. Participants in the World Economic Forum² meeting that just ended in Egypt strenuously³ debated how fast and how far Arab countries should go in embracing democracy.

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak   
  

There was general agreement at the World Economic Forum that things are changing in the Middle East. But there were divergent views on the pace of reform and how far it should go.

In opening remarks, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his vision of political reform is gradual, and that changing too quickly would bring chaos⁴.

But Palestinian legislator Saeb Erekat, of the Fatah party, which lost January elections to the militant⁵ group Hamas, expressed the opposite opinion.
 

Saeb Erekat  
  
"I really believe that peace and democracy are the two elements to deliver the Middle East out of this misery⁶ that we are living under," said Saeb Erekat. "And, I believe that anybody who says Arabs are not ready for democracy is a racist⁷. That is the truth."

Many other participants at the World Economic Forum, said major changes are needed to make democracy in the Middle East a reality.

A senior aide to the king of Jordan, Bassem Awadallah, said, the process will take time, but must begin soon.

"We really need to understand that it is no longer a luxury," said Bassem Awadallah. "We cannot afford not to move forward. And, moving forward requires maybe not just simply to have elections, because that [alone] is not democracy. I think, we really need to introduce a new culture, a culture of meritocracy, a culture where there is rule of law, a culture where people feel that they are free, and where we start building a culture. It is a process."

Egyptian lawyer and longtime human rights activist⁸ Mona Zulficar said there needs to be cultural as well as structural⁹ change.

"We, in the Arab world do not have a culture of democracy," said Mona Zulficar. "We are a typically patriarchal society. The head of the state is depicted¹⁰ as the father of the family. And so, this is the culture. It is very difficult to change tradition and culture in this part of the world. So, struggling for democracy needs much more than constitutions. We need legal institutions of democracy."

Zulficar says the patriarchal culture disenfranchises not only women, but young people - a particular problem, since more than half of the region's population is under the age of 24.

"Young people need to have the choice," she said. "If they don't have the choice to join political parties, to be active, [to feel] that they have a role to play, that they could make a difference, they are going to be easy victims of religious extremism."
 

Massouma Al-Mubarak  
  
Kuwaiti Planning Minister Massouma Al-Mubarak said, even the framework of democracy is not enough to ensure that it works the way it should.

"Definitely, all our constitutions talk about freedoms, individual freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of gathering¹¹, movement and expression of ideas," Massouma Al-Mubarak. "Are these freedoms really implemented¹² and respected by the authorities and also by the people?"

Al-Mubarak, Kuwait's first-ever female Cabinet minister, said even reform advocates can fail to live up to their own rhetoric¹³.

"We have so many people who have they advocate themselves as democrats¹⁴, and they are democracy-seekers in their own society," she said. "But, when you look into their own way of life, they are true dictatorship in their family. So, this is what we really need to have, democracy to grasp inside our souls, to believe in it as a way of life, not only as a practice that we do it every three. or four. or six years, then we forgot all about it."

A common refrain at the forum was the idea that democracy cannot be imposed from outside, but needs to evolve from within. That view has always been widespread in the Middle East, but is even more so now, in view of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Bassem Awadallah said popular sensitivity over that issue can complicate¹⁵ even homegrown reform efforts.

"The question of ownership, it is extremely important, and that's I think where we fail sometimes," he said. "We do not know how to actually advertise this process of reform, and, therefore, become suspect, that this reform is being imposed on us, because it's become a good word in Washington, or because the Americans are imposing¹⁶ reform on us."

The Bush administration's support for reform in the Middle East has drawn¹⁷ mixed responses, and skepticism in the region.

One area where that was discussed was the U.S. and European response to Hamas' victory in the Palestinian elections. Participants said the success of reform elsewhere in the region is linked in part to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora called it the mother of all problems in the Middle East.

"I am trying to emphasize the importance of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the role it plays in distracting attention, in misallocating resources towards other things, while these resources and attention should be directed more and more towards creating the necessary conducive¹⁸ environment for promoting more democracy, and for reform of the political institutions, and to allow for people to participate further," said Fuad Siniora.

Prime Minister Siniora said solving the Israeli-Palestinian situation would help move the Arab world in the right direction.

Egyptian political analyst¹⁹ Abdel Moneim Said, head of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said there are many more important issues in the region.

"Democracy is faced with a lot of challenges, in my opinion, much more deeper than the Arab-Israeli conflict," said Abdel Moneim Said. "In a sense, we have to solve it in our societies through values, institutions and socio-economic conditions. I mean, values here is very important. Unfortunately, we do not have much zealots for democracy and democratization in the Arab world. No one really is willing to die for democracy. But, we have people who are willing to die because they don't like tourism, for instance. So, that is something we have to recognize. It is a serious problem."

He said the two most democratic Arab societies are also the ones closest to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - meaning Lebanon and the Palestinians themselves. Another participant, from Kuwait, rose to say he views the democracy in Lebanon and the nascent²⁰ one in Iraq as ethnically²¹ based, where people vote, based on their ethnic²² or religious groups, and that is not the model he wants for his country.

After three days of discussion and sometimes heated debate, what is clear is that there is as much disagreement over the path to democracy in the Middle East as there is agreement on the need for it.

1 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

2 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

3 strenuously   

adv.奋发地，费力地

参考例句：

• The company has strenuously defended its decision to reduce the workforce. 公司竭力为其裁员的决定辩护。
• She denied the accusation with some warmth, ie strenuously, forcefully. 她有些激动，竭力否认这一指责。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

7 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

10 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

13 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

16 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

17 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

18 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

19 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

20 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

21 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

22 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。