Oiling the Wheels of Democracy in the Middle East

I highly reccomend that those in the blogosphere that want to get the goods on the Middle East take advantage of the variety of news sources available on the WWW and add this site to their news readers, Al-Ahram Weekly, from Egypt.
The late Edward Said was a regular contributor.

From which I found this article;

The dilemma of democracy

That true democracy in the Middle East would threaten US strategic and economic interests explains why it won't be happening soon, according to Ayman El-Amir

In the last half-century, US-Arab relations coalesced around defined common interests, not shared values. These were best exemplified by the historic meeting, on 20 February 1945, between US President Franklin D Roosevelt and King Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud aboard the cruiser USS Quincy at the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt's Suez Canal. The upshot of the congenial meeting was very simple: an exchange of guarantees ensuring free flow of oil to US and Western markets in return for securing the continuation of the Saudi ruling family. With the exception of few, short-lived revolutionary-brand regimes in the Arab world, this served as the model for US-Arab relations from then on.

Hence, these relations were unperturbed by the Arab-Israeli conflict or threatened by the brief and measured Arab oil embargo during the 1973 October War. The drama of 11 September changed the paradigm. For the US, the challenge was how to maintain and further strengthen its oil interests based on an unsustainable paradigm

From the pragmatic point of view, the US has little interest to undercut its traditional allies for the sake of democratic ideals.A new paradigm, therefore, will have to develop. Its elements will probably consist of a regional alliance against terrorism as a security threat, heavy US military presence in the region to deter Iran and guarantee the uninterrupted flow of oil, and soft-pedalling on the ambitious agenda of democratic reform. This may not be much to the liking of grassroots forces clamouring for democratic change, the rule of law and full respect for human rights. If they should rebel, armies of security forces will be at hand to control them, with an iron fist in a silk glove. What will be the US reaction? It will not be the first time the US will have abandoned the nationalist forces it once encouraged. In the meantime, autocratic regimes throughout the Arab world will bide their time and wait for Bush to pass too.

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