The Ibn Khaldoun Center released the following press release on their meeting with Madeleine Albright:

On January 26th 2005, a task force from the Council of Foreign Relations, headed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Congressman Vin Weber, visited the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. This visit forms part of a comprehensive tour the task force is currently undertaking throughout the Arab world in the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the process of democratization in the region. The task force has been meeting with leaders of civil society organizations and officials in governmental institutions in order to determine the appropriate role the United States should play in fostering democracy in the Arab world. Even though the visit was not official, the reports of the Council of Foreign Relations carry an important weight among American foreign policy makers. The Council of Foreign Relations is a well respected, non-partisan think-tank in the Unites States, whose mission is to improve American understanding of foreign policy.

Both Mrs. Albright and Congressman Weber claimed that the promotion of democracy in the Arab world remains in the United States’ best interest given that autocracy results in instability and in the spread of terrorism. Mrs. Albright did acknowledge that at times American discourses regarding democracy stand in stark opposition to its geopolitical and economic interests, as in the cases of Russia and Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, she believes that in the long-term America wishes to see a democratic and peaceful Middle East. However, as expressed by Mrs. Albright, the negative image of the United States entrenched in the Arab public psyche renders it extremely challenging to convert the “American vision of democracy” in the Arab world into reality. Because American initiatives might backfire, an authentic democratic movement needs to grow from within with the help of outside actors such as the United States.

The attendees of the meeting, members of the board of trustees of Ibn Khaldun, raised several questions regarding US involvement in the process of democratization in Egypt. Many called onto the United States to improve its image in Egypt before engaging in any democratization efforts. The United States’ blind support for Israel and its actions in Iraq and Afghanistan decrease the credibility of its democratic message. To eradicate terrorism the Unites States needs to comprehend its root causes; and not combat it with its own brand of terror. Other participants called on the American media to provide a more accurate image of Arab societies. Foremost the media needs to differentiate between Islam as a theology, and the political manifestations that utilize its name to justify terrorism and violence. Other attendees of the meeting were more receptive to the idea of American involvement, they even suggested that the United States conditions its bilateral aid to Egypt on the latter’s genuine democratization. Others also proposed that the United States collaborates more openly with the new generation of the National Democratic Party’s members, who are believed to be more willing to democratize than the old guard.

Mrs. Albright closed the visit by expressing her interest in continuing to collaborate and exchange information with civil society leaders in Egypt and the Arab world that would facilitate the spread of freedom and democracy in the region—she did not however suggest any specific strategies and mechanisms that would make such as collaboration productive and feasible.