By Salama A Salama Reform was the single issue that claimed most attention in the Arab world in 2004. In all probability it will continue to do so for many years to come. Pens will run dry, pages be filled, and all in vain. What some term "the reform industry" has resolved into a debate between those who see no shame in appealing to foreign powers and those who want reform to stem from internal needs. The year began with meetings to promote the Greater Middle East plan, sponsored by the G8 last June and a result of the understanding reached between Europe and the US over reform in the Middle East, a region seen as the world's main source of terrorism. The year ended with a series of conferences that pressed states in the region to adopt internal reforms leading to democracy. Soon afterwards the Arab world hosted two strategic Arab conferences, the "Future" conference in Rabat and the "Arab world in 2020" conference in Dubai. As many observed, one conference tackled the region from the top down, the other from the bottom up. In the end, though, both had the same objective: to paint a picture of the Arab world's future as others would like it to be. The first conference was chaired by the American Secretary of State Colin Powell and attended by representatives from the G8 nations and most Arab countries. The second hosted Arab, American and European public figures. The common denominator of both events was the American presence. It became clear during the Rabat conference that Washington was backtracking on its calls for political reform and focussing more closely on economic issues in the hope that economic progress would lead to political reform. This was an approach that Arab countries, particularly those that rely on American aid, found to their liking. Any reforms should, the Americans insisted, combat terrorism, a portmanteau term, if ever there was one, in Washington's eyes. The debate continued in Dubai in a slightly different form, centring on political and economic reforms and the steps that the West wanted the Arab world to take. The result of these debates was roughly the same: if the Arabs did not change themselves then change would be forced on them. Arab arguments continued to grasp at justifications for leaving things as they were until solutions could be found to both the Palestinian issue and the Iraq war. As these two conferences were being held, Nato was reaching out to embrace the countries of the Gulf and the Mediterranean basin. Discussions were held in Brussels with Egypt, Morocco, Tunis, Mauritania and Israel to win their approval for Nato's role in establishing military cooperation to combat terrorism and illegal immigration and set the peace process in motion. Nato failed to pay any attention to more important problems such as clearing the region of weapons of mass destruction and resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. As if to complete the siege both externally and internally, Cairo hosted a meeting last week for Arab, American and European research centres, with the aim of developing Western ideas for reform and reaching agreement between those who call for reform from without and those who call for internal reform. Despite all the conferences and reform initiatives the Arab world is no closer to a democratic transformat ion. Last year was no different to the year before.
