Dubai must crack down on rampant smuggling, and the U.A.E. federal government has significantly stepped up pressure. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
In Kuwait there is already a real, elected parliament with genuine power, but the prime minister is always a member of the ruling al-Sabah family. That must end. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
In Jordan, where the prime minister is always a commoner, the king has announced some new reforms that would tend to move the country toward a more democratic system: Notably, the prime minister would emerge from the victorious political party, not from back room conversations in the royal palace. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Reformist kings can save their dynasties now by helping their countries move smoothly into democracy, or they will end their years in exile like the Russian aristocrats of a century earlier. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Every Arab ‘republic’ has been a republic of fear, but only Saddam Hussein’s Iraq surpassed the Assads’ Syria in number of victims. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The Arab monarchies, especially Jordan and Morocco, are more legitimate than the false republics, with their stolen elections, regime-dominated courts and rubber-stamp parliaments. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Gadhafi has established no national institutions, not even allowing a fake parliament of the Mubarak or Ben Ali variety that could perhaps be turned into something real. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
The United States treated Gaddafi as an enemy due to his support for terrorism against us, until a rapprochement of sorts began under Pres. George W. Bush at the very end of 2003. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
For decades, the Arab states have seemed exceptions to the laws of politics and human nature. While liberty expanded in many parts of the globe, these nations were left behind, their ‘freedom deficit’ signaling the political underdevelopment that accompanied many other economic and social maladies. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
Obviously, every dictator pays a great deal of attention to who is running the army. There’s always a base right outside the capitol to protect the head of government. Elliott Abrams Read Quote
