LAHCEN HADDAD
Major security concerns for the greater Middle East have to do with Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its blockade of Gaza, separatism, religious extremism and water issues. Those woes were the main focus of a recent forum of liberal Arab-Turkish dialogue organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Istanbul.
The challenge with regard to Iran is how to engage the country in such a way as to be able to wean it away from nuclear armament into a constructive engagement in regional stability. The doctrine in this regard should be to respect Iran’s political choices while calling on it to assume its responsibility as a player in the stability of the region. Rather than isolating Iran, engaging it at different levels through both political dialogue and civic interaction among different advocacy groups and civil society organizations could be more instrumental in bringing to the forth its responsibility as a regional player.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and its blockade of Gaza has now become an even greater source of instability in the region. Being moderate and more or less neutral, liberals in the region could play an important role in monitoring human rights issues in the occupied territories, advocating for the lifting of the Gaza blockade and the cessation of settlements, and working with civil society organizations on both sides to deal with Palestinian livelihood issues, as a peace process is hopefully being discussed – should Israel care to reach one – in application of the different U.N. resolutions on the issue.
Separatism is pervasive in the region: Turkey, Iraq, Southern Sudan, Iran, Yemen, Lebanon, Southern Morocco and Palestine – all of these regions know some of form of ethnically – or religiously-based form of dissidence, generally supported by outside forces or groups. The main concern here is how to contain separatism in those places so that it does not destabilize those countries and the whole region. Any approach to the issue of separatism should be built around advocating for minority rights without at the same time disrupting the territorial integrity of the concerned countries. Promoting freedom, equality, rule of law and democracy all over the region on the one hand and investing resources in poverty alleviation programs in conflict-ridden areas can be effective in mitigating instability and conflict drivers and setting up socio-political contexts for peaceful and democratic resolutions of conflicts and differences.
Religious extremism (not only Islamic) poses a serious threat to the whole region. How to curb it so that it does not destabilize countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sahel-adjacent countries, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Gulf countries will prove to be a formidable challenge if no serious cooperation between these countries is set up and sustained. In the meantime, countries need to invest in promoting more liberal forms of Islam that is tolerant and respectful of rights and infusing human rights and universal values into the educational systems of almost all the countries of the region.
Last but not least, water shortage and desertification are and could be sources of instability in so many countries in the region. Water issues between Iraq and Syria on the one hand and Turkey on the other could resurface any time and mar the improving relations (at least between Syria and Turkey). Yemen is already a water-stressed country and a good percentage of its internal conflicts are water-related. Egypt and Sudan could go to war with Africa’s Great Lakes countries should the latter go ahead with their plan to build reservoirs at the upper Nile levels. Desertification is uprooting whole communities in the Sahara and Sahel making them easy targets for al-Qaeda, narcotics and human traffickers’ recruiting efforts. Setting up a regional mechanism to manage water, energy and environmental issues and promote scientific and other solutions is one way to mitigate the effect of water shortage and desertification on the region’s stability.
Together, Turkey and the Arab countries are in a good position nowadays to work toward durable solutions for some of the security issues the region is facing. The rediscovery of shared history and culture, the existence of enough energy resources, financial assets and emergent human capital in the region, and the emergence of civil society and media organizations are opportunities they could tap into to create a base for positive change and hope for a prosperous and peaceful Middle East and North Africa region.
Aricle first published at hurriyet news
* Lahcen Haddad is a strategic studies expert and professor at Mohamed V University in Rabat, Morocco.