Washington Watch

In Washington, cold war thinking dies hard, but President-elect Barack Obama knows we need to confront 21st century issues, writes Nina Hachigian.

Andrew Grotto and Joseph Cirincione identify and provide recommendations for the key nuclear policy issues that demand senior-level attention.

Report from Caroline Wadhams, Brian Katulis, Lawrence J. Korb, and Colin Cookman offers a new strategy for prosperity and stability in Pakistan and the region.

The fourth report in the Sustainable Security series by Gayle Smith, David Sullivan, and Andrew Sweet looks at how to deal with global crises before they occur.

On Oct. 1, while the attention of the Congress and the country was understandably focused on the presidential election and our economic crisis, Congress approved the controversial U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement.

Reuben Brigety explains how we can combat terrorism, fight poverty, and promote democracy in the developing world.

By Daoud Kuttab

A curious thing has happened as Americans were choosing their first black president. Democracy suddenly ceased to be a bad word for many genuine democrats in the Middle East.

In the aftermaths of the war on Iraq and as part of President Bush's attempts to win the hearts and minds of Arabs, a public democracy campaign was launched aimed at injecting Arabs with the democracy virus. Millions of dollars and years later, the effort has been pronounced as a failure. Democracy salespeople had a problem selling their goods while the Bush administration was occupying the Arab country of Iraq, supporting the continued occupation and illegal settlements of the West Bank while simultaneously placing a worldwide financial siege on a truly elected Palestinian government.

Arabs easily dismissed the democracy surge by simply pointing to what was being done by Americans, and in the name of Americans, in the region. Scenes and images from the Abu Ghraib prison to Guantanamo poured cold water on these efforts to convince Arabs of democracy, U.S. style. The arguments passed around in coffee shops and sitting rooms throughout the Arab world was that American democracy is in reality a facade. That while elections do take place on the surface, a behind-the-scenes process led by a handful of people really decides who rules America.

This has continued to be the lead anti-democracy argument ... until this week.