Bolstering Arab Reforms

When a group of Arab intellectuals concluded this summer that their nations were falling behind because of a lack of schools, political freedom and opportunities for women, their report seemed to fall into a wilderness of silence. Last week it turned out that Washington had its ears open after all.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Friday said the United States would “broaden its approach to the region” and help reform economic, political and educational systems. The initial money he promised -- $29 million -- isn’t much by foreign aid standards and the details of the program are sketchy, but the initiative is a good one. There is no guarantee that providing schools for children and jobs for adults will stop suicide bombings, but giving people the hope of a better future is one way to undercut terrorist groups’ recruitment.

The best prospect for Middle East peace remains an end to the killing of Israelis and Palestinians, the establishment of a Palestinian state and an end to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Powell will work on those problems this week, when he meets with diplomats from other nations who are trying to bring the Palestinians and Israelis together.

Powell said the program for the Middle East would include scholarships to keep girls in school and expand literacy for girls and women. The United Nations-sponsored report by Arab scholars concluded that the region was “largely depriving itself of the creativity and productivity of half its citizens” because of high illiteracy rates and fewer women in the workforce than any other region in the world. The report said where education was available, often only the better-off could afford it, increasing the gap between rich and poor rather than offering a means of climbing the economic and social ladder.

An important part of Washington’s new initiative should be helping Middle Eastern nations carry out the reforms they deem necessary, not imposing U.S. decisions. It also will be important to ensure that money is spent as directed and to have benchmarks to determine which programs work. The United States doles out more than $1 billion in economic assistance to the Arab world each year, about two-thirds of it to Egypt.

Many Arab leaders fear Iraq and despise its leader, Saddam Hussein. But they are concerned that a U.S.-led attack on Iraq could provide ammunition to those who claim Washington is anti-Muslim. The new program can undercut that belief, but, more important, it can provide assistance for reforms that at least some in the Arab world recognize as necessary to stop the region from continuing to dig itself deeper in a hole. The initiative also should signal that Washington wants autocratic governments in the region to pay more attention to the political wishes of their citizens.