Publication

At the beginning of the 21st century the US attempted to reverse its longstanding policy towards the Middle East of working with undemocratic and often autocratic governments with "deficits" in the areas of elections, freedom of speech and human rights. George W Bush reiterated the new approach in his 2006 State of the Union address, when he linked the security of the US to reform in the region. This Paper examines the emergence of the US democratization project in the Middle East and looks at the three exemplary elections singled out by President Bush – in Egypt, the Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia.