Political Reform in the Middle East: Can the United States and Europe Work Together?

Publication Date: December 2004

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Amr Hamzawy; Marina Ottaway

Research Area: Government; Politics

Type: Brief

Abstract:

Although the United States and Europe share in interest in promoting political reform in the Middle East, they have not yet worked out whether they can work productively together on this task. Recent efforts to forge joint initiatives have demonstrated a tendency to devolve into lowest common denominator approaches that generate only lukewarm commitment. A better way forward is for the United States and Europe to pursue separate but complementary policies that emphasize the respective strengths of each side--in the case of the United States, its power, in the case of Europe, its credibility in the Arab world.