Freedom and Governance in Arab Countries at the Beginning of the Third Millennium: Some Problematic Issues. FREEDOM AND GOVERNANCE IN ARAB COUNTRIES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: SOME PROBLEMATIC

In Arab countries, the model of comprehensive freedom and the model of good governance guaranteeing such freedom both face significant conceptual and practical challenges. A combination of global, regional and local circumstances accounts for this. Based on the adopted understanding of freedom, the present chapter briefly discusses some of these issues, examined in more detail in subsequent chapters. The first issue is the tension between freedom and democratic institutions as they exist today in the Arab world. The second concerns how the interests of dominant global powers in the region affect freedom and good governance in Arab countries. This chapter also examines claims that Islam and Arab culture are inherently incompatible with freedom and good governance. That scrutiny is followed by a discussion of international human rights law as a basic reference for good governance in Arab countries. The chapter concludes with a section on peaceful transition towards a society of freedom and good governance in the Arab region, addressed in more depth in Chapter 7.