Regions

At one time, dictatorships were believed to promote economic development, while development was believed to generate democracy. Combined, these views fostered a faulty prescription for international development and US foreign policy. Both of these beliefs have now been proven false, but they are being replaced by new blueprints for development policies whose foundations are equally lacking in fact. As the wave of independence movements swept Africa after 1957, concern about the future of the so-called “new nations”gripped the attention of US scholars and policymakers. With the Cold War at its zenith, the Soviet Union welcomed the birth of prospective members of the socialist commonwealth, while Western observers feared the spread of communism around the world.

Issues of international development took center stage at the 2002 UN-sponsored Johannesburg Summit, but the Middle East was virtually ignored in favor of partnerships with Africa and Central Asia. Indeed, for the Middle East and North Africa, issues of development and modernization have acquired new urgency in the context of transnational terrorist networks rising in the region. The current war on terrorism, conducted by the United States in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, does not address the underlying sense of alienation among the Middle East's unemployed youths, who provide support for terrorist networks. Sustainable human development in the region thus represents the ultimate solution to regional instability and to swelling support for terrorism.

On the night of May 12, 2003, four explosions targeted at Westerners rocked the Saudi capital of Riyadh. In the months following these attacks, the ruling Al Saud family has demonstrated new levels of vigilance and self-scrutiny and some recognition of the serious economic and social problems that pervade every level of Saudi society. This may be the start of a period unprecedented in Saudi history.

In the midst of continued guerilla warfare against coalition forces, escalating terrorist activity throughout the country, and shortages of even basic resources like electricity and water, there is at least one sign that US President George Bush’s war in Iraq has had some positive impact. An Iraqi media once completely controlled by Saddam Hussein's regime now enjoys freedoms unheard of just six months ago, and the number of news sources is burgeoning.