What Should the U.S. Do Now? 01/14/2011
What comes next for Tunisia won’t come easy, but the U.S. can and should help. Here’s how:
1. Get a statement out before the long holiday weekend in the States. The Obama administration will be judged by how quickly it responds and which member of the administration makes the statement--obviously the higher up the better. It’s important to let the world (and especially the despots) know that when citizens take to the streets and oust an authoritarian regime, the US will cheer their success and offer support for the road ahead. (Update: The White House and State Department came pretty close to nailing this one.)
2. Keep Tunisia’s new leaders honest. Old habits die hard and it is easy for the military and security services to overstay their welcome. Over the next couple of weeks, the U.S. must keep the focus on Tunisia; make statements as the situation develops, send important diplomats to visit (Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner would be a good choice), and rally international support for democratic reforms there.
3. Support democratic process. The Middle East Partnership Initiative’s regional office is in Tunis for Christ’s sake. Get IFES, NDI, IRI, etc. on the ground and working with Tunisian officials as soon as possible to prepare for upcoming elections and reforms. This will both publicize the situation making a reversal harder and provide Tunisia with the technical capacity to move forward politically.
4. Help Tunisia address the issues at the core of the unrest. Just because Ben Ali is gone doesn’t mean that Tunisia’s unemployment rate will go down or food will get any cheaper. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her speech at the Forum for the Future in Doha earlier this week there are no easy answers:
Across the region, one in five young people is unemployed. And in some places, the percentage is far more. While some countries have made great strides in governance, in many others people have grown tired of corrupt institutions and a stagnant political order. They are demanding reform to make their governments more effective, more responsive, and more open. And all this is taking place against a backdrop of depleting resources: water tables are dropping, oil reserves are running out, and too few countries have adopted long-term plans for addressing these problems. […]
I am here to pledge my country’s support for those who step up to solve the problems that we and you face. We want to build stronger partnerships with societies that are on the path to long-term stability and progress -- business, government and civil society, as represented on this panel, must work together, as in our new regional initiative called Partners for a New Beginning.
For another perspectives check out Shadi Hamid’s recent piece at Democracy Arsenal.
1. Get a statement out before the long holiday weekend in the States. The Obama administration will be judged by how quickly it responds and which member of the administration makes the statement--obviously the higher up the better. It’s important to let the world (and especially the despots) know that when citizens take to the streets and oust an authoritarian regime, the US will cheer their success and offer support for the road ahead. (Update: The White House and State Department came pretty close to nailing this one.)
2. Keep Tunisia’s new leaders honest. Old habits die hard and it is easy for the military and security services to overstay their welcome. Over the next couple of weeks, the U.S. must keep the focus on Tunisia; make statements as the situation develops, send important diplomats to visit (Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner would be a good choice), and rally international support for democratic reforms there.
3. Support democratic process. The Middle East Partnership Initiative’s regional office is in Tunis for Christ’s sake. Get IFES, NDI, IRI, etc. on the ground and working with Tunisian officials as soon as possible to prepare for upcoming elections and reforms. This will both publicize the situation making a reversal harder and provide Tunisia with the technical capacity to move forward politically.
4. Help Tunisia address the issues at the core of the unrest. Just because Ben Ali is gone doesn’t mean that Tunisia’s unemployment rate will go down or food will get any cheaper. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in her speech at the Forum for the Future in Doha earlier this week there are no easy answers:
Across the region, one in five young people is unemployed. And in some places, the percentage is far more. While some countries have made great strides in governance, in many others people have grown tired of corrupt institutions and a stagnant political order. They are demanding reform to make their governments more effective, more responsive, and more open. And all this is taking place against a backdrop of depleting resources: water tables are dropping, oil reserves are running out, and too few countries have adopted long-term plans for addressing these problems. […]
I am here to pledge my country’s support for those who step up to solve the problems that we and you face. We want to build stronger partnerships with societies that are on the path to long-term stability and progress -- business, government and civil society, as represented on this panel, must work together, as in our new regional initiative called Partners for a New Beginning.
For another perspectives check out Shadi Hamid’s recent piece at Democracy Arsenal.
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Corruption by the Numbers 11/17/2009
Transparency International recently released its annual Corruption Perception Index. You can access the full report here and an interactive corruption map here.
The Bottom Five Most Corrupt Countries:
176 (tie). Iraq
176 (tie). Sudan
178. Myanmar
179. Afghanistan
180. Somalia
The Top Five Least Corrupt Countries:
1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
3 (tie). Singapore
3 (tie). Sweden
5. Switzerland
Update: The BBC recently published an extremely interesting article on corruption in Afghanistan. Money quote:
"The Bertelsmann Foundation, one of the sources for the conclusions of Transparency International, said: 'Corruption is endemic to all state functions (police, judiciary) and is seen as a usual form of business transaction; even ministers were involved in land grabs. Corruption is additionally interlinked with the opium business. Thus, bribery is invested on a massive scale to undermine efforts against the drug economy.'"
Read the full article here.
The Bottom Five Most Corrupt Countries:
176 (tie). Iraq
176 (tie). Sudan
178. Myanmar
179. Afghanistan
180. Somalia
The Top Five Least Corrupt Countries:
1. New Zealand
2. Denmark
3 (tie). Singapore
3 (tie). Sweden
5. Switzerland
Update: The BBC recently published an extremely interesting article on corruption in Afghanistan. Money quote:
"The Bertelsmann Foundation, one of the sources for the conclusions of Transparency International, said: 'Corruption is endemic to all state functions (police, judiciary) and is seen as a usual form of business transaction; even ministers were involved in land grabs. Corruption is additionally interlinked with the opium business. Thus, bribery is invested on a massive scale to undermine efforts against the drug economy.'"
Read the full article here.
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