U.S. Democracy Promotion and Al Jazeera: A View into Arab Reactions and Opposing Movements
Abstract
The promotion of democracy in the Arab world, an area to date resistant to effective political liberalization, has become a central pillar in American Middle East foreign policy as well as an integral element in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). How will this advocacy of democracy be received, given our theoretical and historical knowledge? The underlying assumption of U.S. policy is that democracy will moderate some of the anti-American sentiments from the region as well as undermine terrorist activities and support. Will overt American promotion of democracy cause these states to democratize? Using aspects of social movement theory, this thesis examines Arab reactions to public American promotion of democracy. I argue that America's campaign is counterproductive because it has polarized the political discourse, a result which weakens potential sources of internal pressure and distorts understandings of democracy, thus facilitating states maintenance of the status quo. It does this through framing the message as inherently American and spurring opposing movements. Using al-Jazeera data derived from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), I recorded the connotations associated with each articulation of the word "democracy" to create a sample of competing frames to observe opposing movement developments and frame contest trends.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA439758
Entities
People
- Marie E. Smith
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School