Champ libre Le Grand Moyen-Orient : un moment d’utopie internationale ?
Bernard Rougier
The Greater Middle East Project: A Short Moment
of International Utopia ?
The Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative
announced by the Bush administration in early 2004 identified new international
threats from within the heart of Muslim societies and advocated the
establishment of a climate of political freedom and transparency to reduce
the risks of terrorism. This initiative, however, suffered from a fundamental
contradiction as genuine political democratization would enable sovereignist
elements to call into question the underpinnings of American hegemony in
the region. Moreover, in neglecting to address the Israeli-Palestinian problem,
the instrumentalization of a democratic agenda by an external power
weakens Arab democratic opposition movements within their own society. In
the hope of building international consensus on Iraq, the version of the initiative
adopted at the 2004 G-8 summit may be seen as an attenuated version
of the original project in which the concern for “good governance” has prevailed
over the desire for democratization.
• Une nouvelle perception de la menace
• Les limites de l’initiative
• Réactions arabes
• Le sommet de Sea Island : une réforme revue à la baisse