Assumptions Part 2

Assumption #3: Democracy is good, monarchy is bad.

Shame of me for having this assumption in the first place. Mrs. Mirkow, dear Mrs. Mirkow, my 11th and 12th grade history teacher first lesson in class - I remember it like it was yesterday - instructed us to throw out all our western-centric ideas that go as follows: we are in a democracy, it works well for us, so others should follow us so they can become better.

However, over my past 3 years of Poli Sci schooling at UNC and Duke, I've had the idea that democracy is the be all and end all crammed down my throat. I've learned much about how a vibrant and active democracy it is supposed to promote peace, free trade, more sustainable & equitable development, less hunger and many other desirable traits such as have a representative government.

Two things have given me pause over the last few years however. First, that some things about democracy just plain suck. By this and I'm sure many of you feel the same way, among other things, the campaigns and media coverage thereof are ridiculous, often about style over substance, are sensationalist and rarely narrow their focus on the real nuts and bolts issues of what's important to a country. The incumbency rate is unbelievably high and politics - in America at least - seems to be more about how much money you have, who you know (and how much money THEY have) then about merit or vision. I've heard that people are predicting the 2008 presidential campaign to be the first campaign where candidates combined spend over $1 billion on expenses to win the White House. Well, at least Rupert Murdoch is happy.

Once in office, it doesn't seem to get much better. The mountains of bureaucratic-inertia are often stifling and what gets done isn't always a whole lot better than doing nothing. While The Daily Show does a fantastic job of finding and exaggerating every single ridiculous debate, rider amendment and pork-barrel spending to make it seem like this is ALL they do, it definitely seems to happen way to much as it should considering how great democracy is supposed to be.

Don't even get me started with lobbyists.

Secondly, democracy seems like it needs to much more that a system or series of
elections or new story but rather a culture and way of life. More importantly, for
democracy to work, the society that suits it. By this I mean it must have an independent and free press to be able to verify and hold leaders accountable as well as inform the public about what is going on. There must be a thriving civil society with businesses, community groups, NGOS and other interests groups so citizens can come together to lobby for their rights. There must be stable and multiple political parties so that individuals have viable alternatives to choose from if one party doesn't carry through on its promises. The democratic system must be designed in a way that suits the country's demographics. Finally, the people in the nation must at a state where they can participate. Yes, that means willing. But this also means not hungry and impoverished, with a job, educated, and not fearful for their lives because of violent conflict or insecurity.

As the French would say, "c'est pas evident" - its not easy/simple. It is these sorts of democratic enablers that Iraq lacked and is the reason that the idea of imposing democracy with the sword made and stills makes absolutely no sense. Don't get me wrong though, I think democracy is a fantastic tool. However, I do think it is one that a country must be ready to use. It is at this point that I find myself between two conflicting quotations - first, that democracy merely is "tyranny of the majority." And second, that democracy is "the worst system except for all the others."

I certainly believe that if given the choice between any given country to be either a democracy or at the whim of a random autocrat, I would certainly choose the former. However, Morocco, in particular, isn't faced with this choice.Instead, Morocco is a "democratic, social and constitutional Monarchy."

The first things one of my colleagues noted is that democratic monarchy is about as oxymoronic as it gets. In spite of this, Mohammed VI, the King, has made considerable reforms during his tenure. Provding more political and social freedoms, rewriting Morocco's antiquated family code to give women unprecedented legal rights in the Arab world and focus on poverty alleviation and housing as two of his major policies.

Hearing about this brings "benevolent dictator" to mind, which many see as the ideal form of government, if you can assume he (or her...ok he..jk) will remain this way and is motivated to be efficient in being benevolent. But it is this that gives me pause. In a democracy, there are tangible incentives for doing good, for improving the lives of your citizens: your job. If you don't produce results, you get the boot. But for dictators, unless you really terrorize your people so that they revolt against you, all you really have to do to keep your job is keep your inner circle content.

Yet, in applying my democratic education to Morocco, I've found my initial assumption - that Morocco would be better off right now with a full democracy (ie no King or a king like the UK has one) by some of the conversations I've had. Instead, it seems that what he's doing - promoting economic and social development while engaging in the process of democratization gradually and still remaining a unifying force is a pretty good step.... for the mean time. According to many I've talked to Morocco is not ready for full democracy with, for instance almost 1/2 of the population illiterate and many still in poverty and with voter education and party development still lacking.

However, is not clear cut. When South Africa held elections in 1995, it was still a very poor country. Yet, it was privvy to a unique period of unity behind Mandela that Morocco has not experienced. That doesn't mean that SA doesn't face huge democratic challenges today. SA, on the other hand, also did not have the option of a gradual transition from benevolent dictator to democracy. It is possible that with a full democracy here, the government would not be stable enough to do the hard work that must be done. The NGO I'm working with here, NDI, and many others NGOs are working with political parties, young leaders and the electorate to promote a more effective democracy. One thing I want to learn more about - and eventually write my thesis on (I think.....uggh I don't even want to start to think about my thesis) is democratic transition, how you cross the point of no return from autocracy to democracy.

For the moment, however, the King seems to be on the right track. He is providing more and more press, civil society and democratic freedoms while pushing for social justice. I only hope he continues his current reform and trend towards increased democratization and social development and, eventually, has the humility to ease gently out of the spotlight and let a thriving democracy, with all the benefits, and, yes, shortcomings, take center stage.

Unsurprisingly, it seems Mrs. Mirkow was right...she has always been there watching over me...

Assumptions Part 1

Assumption #1: I know my way around Rabat

Maybe others have had similar experiences or maybe its just because I'm a guy and a) don't like to ask for directions b) like taking shortcuts c) and c) like to pretend like I know my way around somewhere even if I really don't have a clue where I'm going, but in my life I have found that the second that I think I've figured out how to get around a city, I get horribly lost. This happened to me going home from work the other day - I just simply wasn't paying attention and found myself walking up the wrong street. Any normal person would have turned around, walked back to the junction I knew and find the right street. I, on the other hand, thought I could cut my losses by taking a short-cut. I would soon discover that this would only add to them.

Luckily for me, I was able to use my French to communicate with some nice folks and got myself in the right direction, eventually, a stable, forest and a few tennis courts later. Then, I was lucky enough to have my family friend see my walking the street and be nice enough to turn the car around and pick me up. In sum, I'm a lucky guy. What this experience did make me thankful for was having my French. Being in Morocco - even more so than France - has made me sympathetic to those travelling to lands where they don't speak the language. I'm thinking about those Asian tourists I see clicking photos around DC. Just like me trying to read an Arabic sign - I can't even begin to pronounce it! - the letters that your reading right now look like Greek to someone from Japan, or from Morocco for that matter, who hasn't had any schooling with them.

While French is around most of Rabat and I can get along just fine with it, especially in upscale or touristy places that cater to foreigners or local frogs or events targeted at a wider audience such as the recent Jazz festival, Arabic is the language of the street. When i take the bus to work every morning, I notice very little French and a whole lot of Arabic. Being in that environment and speaking ore or less no Arabic has reinforced the idea that not speaking the language that's around you is an isolating, difficult and frustrating experience. It's something you don't even notice in others around you when you speak the language of the place you're in, but when you have something you're dying to say and you just have no idea how to express it using gestures (and contrary to popular belief speaking the language you know REALLY LOUD won't communicate the message either), it is irrepressibly frustrating.

One of the places I've had more trouble than I expected is in whats known as Petit Taxis here - small, cheap taxis that cost about 2 bucks to go anywhere in town. Having a few drivers who barely speak any French has left me feeling distant and in a different world that the driver. For a moment, I almost started to get irritated that the driver didn't really speak French, a language I had hoped would allow me to communicate with everyone. However, I was able to take a step back and realized that Arabic really is the language of this country, not French.

What I also realized was that I was not really as irritated by the fact that he didn't speak French than by the fact that I don't speak Arabic. I always enjoy knowing enough of a language for simple pleasantries, to be able to ask questions about a person in their own language and, of course, to be able to say "I speak a little of X language" or preferably "I'm trying to learn X language, but its not going so well!". Yes, for the selfish reason of wanting to communicate to people but also to convey that I have at least made some effort to meet the other halfway - well not quite halfway, maybe 1/100th of the way.

This brings me to the next assumption...

Assumption #2: Arabic is Arabic

"Mbtekti arabi shwia" or so I thought. This, of course, means I speak a little Arabic in Arabic. But, as I pulled this expression out as I talked to a storekeeper, all I received was a blank stare. At first I thought it was just horrible pronunciation. It turns out this was PART of it, but I also learned that while this might be "I speak a little Arabic" in Classical Arabic, it doesn't really mean all that much in Moroccan Arabic.

To back up, I thought a good way to learn Arabic was to get an Arabic audio lesson so I could have the basics of Arabic . I remember vividly one of the examples used "I am not Syrian, are you?" I probably should have taken that as a hint that it might not fly. It turns out that most Moroccans can understand classical Arabic, but its not a good way to communicate.

What's interesting though, is that Derija, the Moroccan slang dialect, is a blend of Moroccan Arabic, Berber (Moroccan rural language) French and apparently some Spanish too. As I hear my colleagues and friends talk it, I can understand just about every 9th or 10th word, usually filler words like "tu vois" and "en fait" (you see and in fact). They don't help all that much with comprehension, but they are an interesting indicator of the history of this country and the diverse influences that shape what it is today.

Next step, learn a enough Moroccan Arabic to get by. Wish me luck, j'en aurai besoin! (I'll need it!)

P.S. All these signs are helpful to know, the first is "Truck Exit" and the second is "It's strictly forbidden to cross the tracks" - good thing I speak French! The third obviously means "Protect the Grass" (I had to have it translated)

A Land of Contrasts

After spending last semester in Dijon, France studying French and ..well...food, this summer I am spending two months in Rabat Morocco. Here I am doing an internship with an American NGO called NDI (National Institute for Democracy) which promotes democracy throughout the world. I'm hoping to contribute to their mission in Morocco, a particularly important part of their work. I am very lucky that this is an even more exciting time in Morocco than usual because the country is slated to have Parliamentary elections in September of this year. After having their first truly free elections in 2002, Morocco is a country on the cusp of great change, as I have already seen in the weeks I've been here.

I had previously read about Morocco's important geo-political role. As an Arab nation, it is the most advanced democracy among them, the most modern and the most likely to embrace an inclusive notion of globalization. While Iraq is where the battle between the modernism and fundamentalism is taking place with guns, Morocco is on the forefront of the ideological battle, seeking to modernize and adapt while also sensing the Islamic revival that has emerged in the past couple decades. I heard that Morocco can be seen as a sign of things to come for west-east relations. If Morocco allows modernism and tolerance to overcome extremism and bigotry, it portends good things.

I've had many experiences that testify to the struggle in this country that I had read about. However, I have also been humbled by how much I did not expect, both in the ways Morocco is still tied to the past and the ways it is embracing the future, and by those small things you just cannot prepare yourself for. This is really the first place I've ever been where I've faced Islam and Arab culture head on so I've had a number of firsts: fully veiled women, a taboo against alcohol, Mosques where non-Muslims are prohibited from entry, gyms segregated by sex. By the last thing, I do not only mean that you have men's gyms and women's gyms with different focuses etc. Instead, there are gyms with hours or days for each sex so that each gender has a single-sex workout environment. I could never imagine this in the US so you can imagine my surprise when I first was made aware of this by the gym receptionist. Morocco seems to be full of contrasts, a place where where one of the biggest issues of our shrinking world, traditionalism versus modernism, is ever-present, juxtaposed and divisive.

One example of this contrast is the culture of drinking here. It's something I've struggled to get used to, particularly coming from France where anyone and everyone past infancy has a glass of wine or two with dinner. While alcohol is technically forbidden by the Koran, this does not mean that Muslims do not drink. Instead, there really is a variety of the way people interpret this: some have a glass of wine, some don't, others have about ten of them. Like some of the Southern US, there are attempts made to keep alcohol on the down low. For instance, at the local supermarket ,there is a separate subterranean (it is technically underground) floor devoted to alcohol. With wine, beer and everything it was an alcoholic's paradise. As you check out, they go to great effort to hide the contents of your bag. They are dark black and they double bag it - tying the first bag off. Interestingly, I didn't notice a single female client there.

Another example of the modernism/traditionalism contrast is the below picture . Right outside the main square in Marrakesh, about 4 hours SW of Rabat, a teenager was selling this toy. which was an electric train with two parts: our president, Dubya, on a tank with its barrel pointed at Osama Bin Ladin in the car in front of him. As I'm sure was the intention, Dubya and him go around and around in circle, with W never catching him. In a country where most people strongly dislike Bush, this product is being marketed to tourists, representing the modern capitalistic influence, promising to share the better standard of living shared by the western world. Meanwhile, the omnipresent symbol of traditionalism, Osama, is very much a part of this picture, providing the dramatic chase and fighting against the values that tourism - and Bush - represents.

I encountered this again when talking to a local shopkeep in the Medina (or old city) in Rabat that I have gotten to know. He argued two things. First, that the only thing coming between the US and the Arab world is Israel Palestine, saying that is solved tonight, Americans and Arabs would be dancing arm-in-arm. Second, that Bush is the same type of person as Bin Laden, just the other extreme. Bin Laden offers complete traditionalism with the destruction of the US and what it represents and Bush offers the opposite.

One stereotype that has proven true is that no one likes Bush in Morocco. Once, I even had a taxi driver ask me what I thought about Bus before he'd let me out of the cab. While I have been here for the summer and during the last four months in France, for that matter, I've often found myself sympathizing and agreeing with the pretty significant disdain for Bush, as I did with that cab driver. Yet, I've also occasionally - and grudgingly - found myself defending him. I've not really made an attempt to defend what he's done but more-so his intentions. Besides some of the arrogance and belligerence he's shown, I believe he has had mostly good intentions. For instance, my work here, promoting democracy, is something he's stood staunchly behind. I do commend him for this but I also remember that this is exactly what he was doing in Iraq... When thinking about Iraq, I remember my country too contains some of the same contrasts and hypocrisy I've run into in Morocco. Bush does represent a kind of extremism that does delegitimize some of the good work being done to promote democracy that NGOs such as NDI are doing. While Osama clearly is much more extreme, his presence too delegitimizes a cause that does have some merit, preserving some of our traditional values in light of a world that is rapidly changing, yes, often for better but, occasionally, also for worse.

Yet, It seems like the media sensationalizes and distorts reality by over representing these extremes. As Jon Steward says, the media only talks about the trucks that are on fire. I've been amazed by how mixed these two "worlds" are . I imagined a deeper separation but I've encountered a blend of traditionalism and modernism in many parts of daily life. Unlike the impression I got from what I've read or seen in the media, these aren't always in conflict. One of my friends cares for both mixed drinks and Allah. I asked if he thought this was a contradiction and he said not at all. Instead, just like Christians who do not follow all of the instruction of Leviticus, he said that he has his interpretation of what's important just as others have their. Taking to him, I realized that I have a lot to learn about Islam and the role it plays in the lives of those who follow it. Just as Christians are a motley crew, so too the Islamic world is full of contrasts. That is something I hadn't really begin to understand until I got here.

I also realized I did not understand what the contrasts of this nation really meant. I had in mind the deadly results of extremism and modernism clashing symbolized by the Casablanca bombings in 2003 that killed more than 40 people. However, such explosive events have seemed to be the exception, not the rule. Instead, Moroccans of all beliefs have lived together in relative peace in spite of their "contrasts". Thanks to this, baseball caps are seen next to veils, the sound of the call to prayer are heard along side the sound of merchants selling socks (made in China, of course), Coke is sold along side of The a la Menthe (traditional Moroccan mint tea) and tradition and modernism are able to live side-by-side.