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IN PERSON

EMPOWERING DEMOCRACIES

It’s not easy being the secretary of state for the world’s biggest superpower, but Madeleine Albright, the first woman ever to hold the office, proved herself capable of shouldering the responsibility during her four years in office. Business Monthly spoke exclusively to the former Clinton administration official during a recent visit to Cairo.

By Réhab El-Bakry

Opinionated, outspoken, hated by some, loved by others. Albright knew that when it comes to politics, you can’t win them all. Appointed as US secretary of state during the second term of the Clinton adminstration, the Czech-born American diplomat was one of the most dynamic individuals to hold the position. During her four years in office (1997-2000), she developed a strong understanding and opinion of the Arab world and sharpened her view on what the region needs for democratization and economic liberalization.

As chairwoman of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs – a Washington-based NGO dedicated to opening dialogue with countries in the developing world in order to facilitate the growth of democracy – she’s using these views as a starting point for her activities. Developing democratic systems and economic liberalization go hand-in-hand, she argues, but a country must have the right ingredients in place before a democratic shift can occur.

“I have for long had this theory that in order to have a functioning democratic system, you need to have an empowered middle class because they are then in a position to make decisions about their own lives. That then translates into wanting to be able to make some decisions about how the government is organized and how to participate in it. Opening markets, economic development and functioning economies help create middle classes. They then become very interested in participating in political activities, which then further opens up the system by increasing demands for the creation of legal systems and commercial codes that then brings in outside business. So it is kind of a perpetual motion machine,” she says.

Albright believes recent changes in the region indicate that Arab governments are moving towards opening their economies, which should – according to her theory – inevitably lead to the creation of a larger middle class that will demand more participation in the political system. She says one of the main reasons why the US is closely following the economic reform measures that have been taking place in Egypt since last July is because they see these steps as a prelude to real economic and political development.

“I know that Egypt already has a middle class, probably larger than other Arab countries, but just listening to the determination the new cabinet has to update the economic legislation, to deal with a tax system [to make it] fair and regularized, and cutting through a lot of the bureaucratic maze, I think this is something that is very important to reforming Egypt’s economy in order for it to live up to its potential,” she says.

The former diplomat points out that the approach the new government is taking is just as important as the decisions they are making. The fact that ministers handling strategic portfolios come from private business gives them firsthand knowledge of the private sector’s needs. Their experience managing companies is certain to affect their approach in managing their portfolios.

“I think there’s a new sense of energy that comes with having a team that is very task and business oriented. The CEO kind of approach to [dealing with issues] makes it very attractive to the international community,” says Albright. She points to the amount of coverage the Egyptian delegation received in Davos in early January. “The team made a good impression on various people particularly about the kinds of things that are happening here.”

What impressed Albright even more is that the Egyptian cabinet appears committed to genuine reform and is willing to make tough decisions, even when it means facing stormy public criticism. A case in point is the signing of the qualifying industrial zone (QIZ) agreement between Egypt, the US and Israel. The agreement allows Egyptian products manufactured in designated zones to be exported to the US without customs or quotas provided they have a minimum of 11.7 percent Israeli content. For Albright, the agreement has personal appeal because the QIZ model was put forward by the Clinton administration in 1996.

“I think [signing the agreement] is very important because it opens up a market and can increase the level of export to the US in a very short period of time. I think it’s a very good and important step because it puts Egypt in a position to really expand its exports. It was something that [the Clinton administration] thought up in order to expand economic development.” At the same time, the idea of taking Egyptian-Israeli trade relations a step further is another advantage that Albright sees for Egypt to continue to set an example of peace in the region.

Albright has witnessed the effect of foreign policy on the Middle East. During her term as permanent US representative to the United Nations (February 1993 to January 1997, she had a front row seat to the ramifications of sanctions on Iraq. The experience tempered her approach towards the Middle East and the thorny peace process. While she’s reluctant to publicly criticize the Bush administration, it’s clear she disagrees with many of its Middle East policies, particularly the decision to invade Iraq, alienate traditional partners in the region and its handling of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Moreover, she is at odds with the administration’s approach to spreading democracy, which has been more stick, less carrot.

“I have always been a firm believer in diplomacy as the best way to address issues. We have not had a lot of diplomacy going around, particularly when it comes to the Middle East and the US government. Right now, US policies towards the region are not the most popular. But I do hope that things will gradually improve during the second Bush administration. The president’s speeches have implied this, but there have been no specifics as to the course of action stated. So we can only wait and see,” she says.

Albright feels the US has not paid enough attention to the peace process and has consequently kept Egypt from playing the active role it has in the past. “There hasn’t been much initiative to include it in many of the issues pertaining to the region and, in my opinion, this is a mistake. I think there are indications that the Bush administration is taking a different approach to diplomatic issues and bilateral relationships but we will have to wait and see what this will actually mean.”

She hopes the Bush administration will work harder to get the Egyptian government more involved on resolving the Palestinian conflict, as well as providing support to the Iraqi government. Despite a perceived cooling of Egyptian-US relations over the past four years, she says that the relationship between the two countries is sufficiently developed and stable that it can withstand a few bumps.
Albright sees her new role as head of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs as an opportunity to advocate political and economic development through non-official routes. “Track two diplomacy can be effective in the sense that it provides a route for dialogue through non-official capacities,” she says. And while she remembers fondly her time as secretary of state, she also enjoys her new role.

“There’s no better job in the world than being secretary of state of the United States,” she says with a chuckle. “But I hope very much that through the various activities that I am involved in I can be helpful and effective in opening dialogue and discussions. So, since I always try to believe that what I am doing now is more interesting than what I was doing before, [which is] hard to do given my previous job, I do think that I do have a role.”

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