Democratic Transformation in the Arab World
Algerian Arab Summit Overlooks the Issue of Political Reform

Last year's Arab Summit held in Tunisia, asserted the need to pursue reform and modernization, consolidate democratic practices, and enlarge participation in political and public life by fostering the role of all components of the civil society, including NGOs.
But to many observers, this year's Arab summit in Algeria, instead of reviewing what was implemented of its Tunisian declaration, simply ignored the whole issue of reform.

The exclusion of the issue of political reform from the agenda of the Arab summit is a clear indication that almost all Arab regimes are reluctant to effect any true political reform, and discussion of the issue was avoided to prevent embarrassment and the risk of driving a wedge between Arab states that reached a moderate level of reform, such as Morocco, and others that did little or nothing by way of reform, such as Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.
Given this situation , it was not surprising that most attendants reacted coolly to U.S pressure for greater democracy in the Middle East , contenting themselves with the time –worn excuse that change is needed but cannot be imposed from outside and that Arab nations must be allowed to implement reforms at the rate compatible with the particular situation in each country.

Since only 13 Arab heads of state out of the 22-member Arab League attended the summit, it was very difficult to reach strong commitment to any particular agenda. The outcome though feeble indeed was hardly disappointing to the Arab street which has since lost faith in Arab summits to provide any tangible solutions to either economic problems of most Arab countries that suffer from underdevelopment or relief from the entrenched authoritarian regimes that have monopolized power for decades .