20 March 2003
Burns: U.S.-Middle East Partnership Would Bring Hope to the Region
(Assistant Secretary William Burns before House panel March 19) (1430)
The United States hopes to enter into a partnership with the people of
the Middle East to build a region that is "stable, prosperous and
open," says William J. Burns, assistant secretary of state for Near
Eastern affairs.
Speaking March 19 to the House International Relations Committee's
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, Burns said U.S.
interests "are best served by aligning our policies with the goals and
aspirations of the people of the region."
Burns described the Bush administration's U.S.-Middle East Partnership
Initiative as a framework for working with those in the region who are
committed to change. The Initiative, he explained, focuses on three
key regional reform issues: economic reform, educational opportunity,
and political participation.
"To promote economic reform, we will support those who are working to
open up their economies and expand opportunities for all their
citizens," he said. To expand educational opportunity, he said the
United States will create new partnerships between universities in the
United States and the Arab world, helping to expand the "marketplace
of ideas" in the region. The effort will also focus on improving the
quality of education by emphasizing critical thinking and problem
solving over rote learning, Burns said.
"Open economies and effective educational systems require open and
accommodating political systems," Burns said. To this end, the United
States will establish regional political campaign schools in the Gulf,
North Africa, and the Levant, "to provide political leaders with the
tools to take advantage of new opportunities for democratization," he
said.
"We are committing ourselves to work together with the people and
leaderships of the region to support their efforts to address these
critical issues," Burns told the Subcommittee members. Major players
on the U.S. side, he said, must include the U.S. Congress, U.S.
regional private sectors, the U.S. Agency for International
Development and other Executive Branch departments and agencies, and
key nongovernmental agencies (NGOs).
Following is the text:
(begin text)
Crises and Challenges in the Middle East
William J. Burns, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs
Remarks to
House International Relations Committee
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia
Washington, DC
March 19, 2003
Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I appreciate this opportunity to meet
with you today, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with
you and the members of the Subcommittee. With your permission, I'll
submit a longer written statement for the record, and briefly
summarize those remarks now.
All of us are focused intently today on Saddam Hussein's defiance of
the international community, and the critical actions that loom ahead
for the United States and our coalition partners. This is indeed a
time of crisis and great challenge for the Middle East, but the issues
immediately before us are in many ways manifestations of deeper
problems. Many in the region are beginning to realize that their most
profound challenges at this moment lie not in war and conflict, but in
meeting the political and economic expectations of a new generation.
As we enter the 21st century, it is a hard truth that countries that
adapt to global conditions and open up and seize the economic and
political initiative will prosper; those that don't will fall farther
and farther behind. Last year, at President Bush's direction,
Secretary Powell took the lead in organizing the U.S.-Middle East
Partnership Initiative to establish a framework for working with those
in the region who are committed to change. The Initiative allows us to
focus our efforts around three key regional reform issues: economic
reform, educational opportunity, and political participation.
We chose the term Partnership carefully. We are committing ourselves
to work together with the people and leaderships of the region to
support their efforts to address these critical issues. Real and
enduring change can only come from within, driven by the aspirations
and self-interest of the people of the region, and not as the result
of outside preaching or prescription. But for the Initiative to be
successful, the Partnership will have to include as well Congress, the
U.S. and regional private sectors, the U.S. Agency for International
Development and other Executive Branch departments and agencies, and
key NGOs. I certainly hope we will be able to draw on the experience
and leadership of this Subcommittee as we move ahead.
We should have no illusions about the difficulties before us, but
there are signs of hope. Many in the region understand better than we
ever will the challenges they face, and have begun to speak openly
about what must be done. We have secured initial funding, and together
with our partners in the region, we are developing a set of promising
pilot projects. In addition, State and USAID are working with host
governments and non-governmental organizations to ensure that our
existing regional aid programs are targeted on the kind of reforms
that are most critical.
To promote economic reform, we will support those who are working to
open up their economies and expand opportunities for all their
citizens. For example, we have begun planning a broad program of
assistance to the Moroccan government and private sector to help them
prepare for an eventual free trade agreement with the United States.
The great benefits of free trade come at the price of sometimes
difficult structural adjustments. We are developing programs that will
help both rural and urban communities affected by these necessary
adjustments to prosper under free trade. We have seen the impressive
results of free trade in Jordan, where Qualifying Industrial Zones
have been a powerful economic engine for growth and development,
providing jobs especially to women and others who had been hard hit by
tough economic times. Jordan's experience can be a model as we work to
expand trade, and the economic opportunities it brings, across the
region. As we help open economies, we will work to spark the region's
well-known entrepreneurial spirit. We will soon bring to the U.S. our
first group of Arab entrepreneurs, many of them women, participating
in our Middle East Entrepreneur Training program in the U.S.
The United States has a long and distinguished tradition of helping to
bring educational opportunities to the region. To expand educational
opportunity, we will create new U.S.-Arab university partnerships,
helping to expand the marketplace of ideas in the region. As we help
expand access to education, we will also focus on improving its
quality. Educational reformers in the region are looking at innovative
ways to move away from rote learning to emphasize critical thinking
and problem solving, and we will work with them and governments in the
region to encourage this trend.
Open economies and effective educational systems require open and
accommodating political systems, the third key area of our initiative.
Last fall, we brought 50 Arab women leaders to the U.S. to observe
mid-term elections and meet with U.S. political professionals. We plan
to expand this effort, establishing regional campaign schools in the
Gulf, North Africa, and the Levant, to provide political leaders with
the tools to take advantage of new opportunities for democratization.
In Yemen, we will help build the capacity of women and local councils
in tribal areas to make their voices heard through the political
process. We will help Yemen's Elections Commission organize effective
voter registration and fund the monitoring of upcoming parliamentary
elections.
I have outlined briefly what is an ambitious, broad-based and
long-term program. None of it will be easy, and we will see results
only over time. We have to approach this not only with determination,
but also with a degree of humility. The Middle East is a diverse and
complex set of societies, and there can be no one size fits all
solution to the region's problems. However, in the end, our interests
are best served by aligning our policies with the goals and
aspirations of the people of the region: a Middle East that is stable,
prosperous and open. Secretary Powell last December called it "adding
hope to the U.S.-Middle East agenda." It's a sorely needed element
right now.
Madam Chairwoman, we have no monopoly on wisdom in approaching these
challenges. To be successful, we will need the advice and support of
this subcommittee, Congress, and many others. As we fashion and
implement this Initiative, I hope we can turn to you and Congress for
your support.
Thank you.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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