America's Greater Middle East Initiative * In other diplomatic maneuverings in response to and attempting to circumvent the Initiative, King ‘Abdullah and President Mubarak both made calls on President Chirac this week at the Elysee, and France and Germany have announced their positions against the initiative and their intention to formulate an alternative; officials from the two countries called on the European Union to draft a "distinct and complementary" approach to prevent "the traps of a global approach ignoring national characteristics and stigmatizing Islam as incompatible with what is modern." * Jordan and Egypt also for their part submitted an alternative plan to an Arab ministerial on Wednesday, in an advance of an Arab League summit March 29 and 30 in Tunis which is expected to reach a unanimous stance against the US initiative. After his Egyptian counterpart Atef Obeid travelled to Kuwait City to call on him this week, Kuwait’s PM Sheikh Sabah said of the initiative "Kuwait has not received anything and does not want to receive anything." * In other diplomatic moves by Egypt against the initiative, President Mubarak convened a two-day conference for this weekend in Alexandria to formulate an Arab alternative. Mubarak threatened that the result of rapid democratization in the Arab world would be a "vortex of violence and anarchy," and that a gradual reform plan should be implemented instead. Hesham Kassem, president of the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights, said NGOs in Egypt had not been informed about or invited to the meeting, which he suspected was a government-staged event to deflect pressure for reform. * Turkey has similarly balked, with FM ‘Abdullah Gul saying Turkey "would not be the U.S.’s subcontractor" although it was willing to contemplate cooperative actions. * In his meeting with Powelll, Jordanian Foreign Minister Muasher reportedly threatened to make rejection of the U.S. plan the centerpiece of the Arab summit in Tunis, while offering to formulate an Arab alternative if it was withdrawn. Muasher says that in response he was assured by Powell that the United States would withdraw the plan from the agenda of the G-8 summit in Sea Island. * The administration's democracy initiative also met with distrust from Arab liberals, who were equally wary of the United States's intentions and of their own governments’ rationales for rejecting the initiative. Azmi Bishara, an Arab-Israeli MK, said "the U.S. attempt to dress up its policy of hegemony in the guise of democracy must not discourage Arab democratic forces from pressing for democracy.... citizenship rights, equality before law, judicial independence, civic liberties and women rights are democratic principles that must not be abandoned just because American propaganda is using all of the above for its own purposes." * A slightly different response was that of former Jordanian ambassador to the UN Hasan Abu Nimah, who said he mistrusts the U.S. initiative because he doesn't believe the United States is actually willing to sacrifice its undemocratic allies in the Arab world to democratically-elected governments with anti-American policies. Nimah wrote: "Even if Washington would require such [democratic] changes, how could they be achieved? And if achieved, how could Washington cope with elected governments which will definitely be far more hostile to the US than the current ones?" But on the other hand, he asked, "Does anyone truly expect any of the many self-styled leaders in the region who claim that reform should start from within to step down and allow the people to democratically elect a leader? " Middle Eastern Report * An interim Iraqi constitution was adopted on Monday by the Iraqi Interim Governing Council, and the document includes substantial civil and women's rights protections, provisions for separation of powers and a highly independent judiciary, and a fair amount of federalism, along with electoral mechanisms designed to produce moderate leaders who have appeal beyond their own community. The text of the interim basic law is available on the CPA's website. George Washington University's Nathan Brown has released an article-by-article commentary on the text as well as the drafting process, and Noah Feldman, a consultant to the constitution's drafters, analyzes the document as well in an interview with the Associated Press. * In general, during the drafting Kurds pushed for greater federalism, while Shi'i urged greater majoritarian democracy. A last-minute dispute arose between Shi'i, who wanted a collective presidency of five persons in which three would be Shi'i and the other two include a Kurd and a Sunni, and Kurds, who sought to make the permanent constitution's approval conditional on a veto which could be exercised by two-thirds votes within three provinces. (The Kurds control three northern provinces, Dohuk, Suleimaniyeh, and Arbil). The veto clause was adopted, as well as a smaller presidency of one president and two deputies who act by consensus. Sistani gave his support to the interim constitution when Shi'i members of the council convinced him that wrangling over details in the document was likely to postpone the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition to an Iraqi interim government on June 30. (For further discussion of issues surrounding the drafting process, see reports by the International Crisis Group and the Christian Science Monitor ).

* Syria experienced a brief, rare protest against the police state on Monday outside the parliament building in Damascus. Organizer Aktham Naisse, who leads the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, said Monday's sit-in outside parliament was a success even though it was quickly suppressed by police, protesters were detained, and the demonstrators' banner, reading "Freedom for Prisoners of Opinion and Conscience," quickly torn up by police. * Naisse had previously circulated a petition urging an end to emergency laws, release for political detainees and permission for exiles to return. He plans to give the petition to the Ba'athist authorities on March 17, the anniversary of mass arrests in 1992 under Assad's father, Hafez Assad. "Organizing the petition was the first step. The sit-in was the second step. March 17 will be the third step. Sooner or later our hopes and aspirations will be fulfilled," said Mr Naisse. Russia's Coming Elections * Russia’s "managed democracy" will hold elections on Sunday. Though the outcome is not in doubt, if less than half the voters turn up, an embarrassing run-off could result for Mr Putin. Only 56 percent of eligible voters cast ballots during parliamentary elections in December, although presidential races typically draw more voters. In response to this concern and, perhaps, to presidential pressure as well, all of Moscow’s religious leaders have called on their communities to participate in elections. Putin himself appeared on television for an address calling on Russians to vote, and the Russian press announced that Cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri would vote from the international space station by proxy. * There are reports the government may alter the turnout tally if necessary to avoid the embarrassment of a run-off, and its implication of a reduced mandate for Mr Putin: left-leaning nationalist politician Sergei Glazyev published an open letter to Putin in Novaya Gazeta on Thursday, saying local officials are under pressure to ensure a high turnout and falsify ballots in Putin's favor; on Wednesday, Glazyev alleged some regional leaders had held meetings with local elections officials to make certain 70 percent to 75 percent of all votes cast would be for Putin. * With access to the media stifled for opposition candidates, the internet has become the principal available mode of unfettered political discussion in Russia at the moment. Deputy Duma speaker Irina Khakamada, who is standing against Putin in a quijotic electoral challenge, has responded to his refusals to meet her in debate with a website comparing their positions, at www.putin.hakamada.ru. * Ms Khakamada is campaigning against Putin as a "Soviet man," but even with internet access, it has not been easy for her or other opponents of Mr Putin to broadcast that message in a nation of 145 million which reaches across 11 time zones, where a third of the population remains below the poverty line, and all television channels in the control of the Kremlin. * Apart from the deputy speaker, most leaders of the electoral opposition during December’s parliamentary elections have gone their separate ways: Boris Nemtsov is working for a bank; Anatoly Chubais, a pivotal figure in for mid-1990s privatisation, returned to his job of heading the electricity monopoly, Unified Energy Systems. * Nemtsov comments, on genuine popular support for Putin, "As long as the Russian economy continues to grow by 7 per cent a year and living standards are improving, you can't convince people that they would be better off without Putin.... Unfortunately, the popular demand for democracy in Russia is very weak at the moment. Perhaps we need time to go through this period of authoritarianism to appreciate the value of freedom." * A solitary protest against the "managed" nature of the weekend's elections has been a demonstration in Pushkin Square Wednesday evening by Young Yabloko, the Union of Communist Youth, the youth movement of the Union of Right Forces, and the National Bolshevik Party, who united in calling for Russians to abstain from voting in protest, in a demonstration which was permitted to proceed by the city's central district administration. Greater Budgetary Support For N.E.D. * The bipartisan National Endowment for Democracy, established by congressional mandate in 1983 and operated independently of the U.S. government, will receive a doubled appropriation under the budget proposal submitted to Congress. The additional $40 million in democracy promotion funding will go toward programs in the Middle East. The FY 1995 budget also calls for $150 million for the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which received $89 million in FY 2004, $90 million in FY 2003, and $29 million in FY 2002. The National Endowment for Democracy is noteworthy for receiving rare support from both left and right of political spectrum, with prominent members of both parties, labor, management, and a variety of civil society organizations represented on the organization’s board. * The National Endowment for Democracy has already become quite active in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere in the Middle East. At present, NED grants are supporting the activities of Iranian dissidents ($75,000 in 2002), human rights and international business groups in Egypt ($656,000) and women's rights groups in Jordan ($209,000). An additional series of grants totaling $680,000 in 2002 have gone to groups in Afghanistan supporting freedom of the press, human rights, independent political parties and equal political representation for women and minority groups; similar programs are underway at the moment in Iraq. The Palestinian Authority * Fateh member Rouhi Fatouh, a close Arafat ally, won the seat easily in balloting on Wednesday. More interestingly, Hassan Kharisha, an independent, won the vice-chairman seat against Fateh candidate Muhammad el Hourani. Fateh holds 63 out of 83 seats on the council. Legislative sources told the Jerusalem Times that council members wanted to send Fateh leaders a message about their independence. The speaker is the Palestinian official who, in the event of Arafat's death, would succeed to the presidency for 60 days until general elections could be held. Other duties concern routine parliamentary management, and less frequently exercised constitutional responsibilities lie in keeping the government in check. * JK: In theory, anyway. In practice, the PA is a veneer of democracy over the reality of dictatorship. Arafat is in control, has the guns, dismisses or causes those he doesn’t like to resign from any meaningful position of power, uses intimidation and murder routinely, and never did get around to holding another set of elections. "Independence" is dubious enough under the circumstances – and real democracy also requires effectiveness.