The Prospects for Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa: Comparing Internal and External Influences.

While the Middle East and North Africa have not yet experienced the democratic revolutions that have swept Latin American, Eastern Europe and a number of countries in other parts of Africa and Asia in recent years, there are still signs of political liberalization and an emerging civil society. While supporters of the Bush administration credit the U.S. invasion of Iraq and other U.S. policies for such change, critics note that many of these developments pre-date or were unrelated to this recent U.S. emphasis on advancing freedom in the region. Furthermore, critics note that the United States remains the primary military backer of the region's autocratic regimes and occupation armies and that the destruction wrought upon Iraq by the U.S. invasion and occupation and the ongoing U.S. influence in the country does not serve a model many others would seek to emulate. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]