By Rami G. Khouri
"One of the paradoxes of the complex relationship between the Arab world and the United States relates to the rhetoric and reality of democratic values.
The Bush administration has made democracy promotion a central pillar of its foreign policy in the Middle East at the level of rhetoric, but in practice it pays little heed to behaving democratically in its interaction with the Arab people.
If democracy means the rule of the people, ideally a country's domestic and foreign policies should reflect the majority sentiments of its citizens.
The Arab world lacks credible democratic systems. Existing institutions like parliaments are controlled in a manner that reflects the will of small powerful elites that dominate the country, rather than accurately expressing public sentiment.
This control has been overcome to a large extent in recent years by good public opinion polls, conducted by local Arab groups as well as established international firms.
One of the major trends that has been repeatedly identified and reconfirmed in polls during the past decade has been the gap between the aims of American policies and Arab public perceptions of the United States......."
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