Sami E Baroudi (2004) The 2002 Arab Human Development Report: Implications for Democracy. Middle East Policy. Vol.11 (1), pp 132-41.

Baroudi discusses the reactions to the Arab Human Development Report by Western and Arab scholars, especially as it focuses on the ‘democratic deficit.’  In the discourse on democracy we tend to hear more from intellectuals writing in the Western media and not from those writing in the Arab media. This provides a misleading reading on the discourse on democracy and the Middle East and is also reflected in the debate on the Arab Human Development Report.

The cause of democracy is hindered by at least three main factors: First, Arab regimes are reluctant to democratize for fear of losing power. Second, the Arab intelligentsia has not been won over to the cause of democracy. Opinion leaders are not sending a clear message to the Arab population in favor of democracy and individual freedoms. Third, the debate over democracy has not generated much interest on the Arab street where the focus is more on changing the Western dominance in the region and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.