The Forest for the Trees

Jumpstarting Arab Reform: The Bush Administration's Greater Middle East Initiative
by Gary C. Gambill/MEIB
Original Article

In a November 2003 speech, US President George W. Bush declared that "sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East" had failed to contain security threats emanating from the region and announced that the United States has adopted a new "forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East." American policymakers subsequently drafted a plan, the Greater Middle East Initiative (GMEI), to promote political and economic reform in the region in conjunction with the G-8 group of the world's leading industrial powers. Arab governments reacted with outrage after the plan was leaked in February . . . .