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The work on the project during the first part
of the fellowship year had several major aspects. Each of the
following activities outlined below proved to be an effective
strategy in dealing with American aid policy to Jordan and other
Arab countries.
1. Field research, which was planned in the project proposal
as the initial point of departure, was conducted according to
the plan. I interviewed some people at USAD Office in Jordan
who provided me with some valuable data about American aid to
Jordan during the last decade divided by sector.
2. Conducting interviews with political parties' leaders (32),
some parliamentarians, General Secretary of the Ministry of
Planning and some women organizations about the size of US aid
they have received during the last decade. The findings from
the field research helped to crystallize the impact of American
aid on political reform in Jordan. The parliamentary deputies
and leaders of political parties and women organizations are
target audience of a future seminar to be held in Amman next
year depending on funding.
3. Reviewing literature regarding US aid policy to Jordan and
other Arab countries before September/11 as part of the research
paper.
4. Interviewing some American academics and expert in this field
and we discussed the effectiveness of US aid policy on democratization
in Jordan and other Arab countries. The list included: Dr Marina
Ottaway, Dr Ommar Hamzawey, expert on this issue, Prof Michael
Hudson, Georgetown University, Prof. Barry Rubin, editor of
Middle East International Affairs MERIA, and some policy makers
from State Department: Middle East Partnership Initiative MEPI.
PUBLICATION REPORT
There are four different types of publication format that may
serve as a vehicle for disseminating ideas and policy recommendations
advanced in this fellowship project. They are outlined below.
It is important to note here that many issues, which are cited
in the project as a source of US aid policy to Jordan and other
Arab countries, do not look immediately or obviously problematic.
However, persuading policy maker in America to change US aid
policy to make it more effective in achieving its intended democratic
goals is not an easy task. The research suggests a set of policy
measures for achieving US aid policy and those are the primary
goals of the proposed publications.
1. Policy paper “Impact of US aid policy on democracy
and political reform in Jordan and other Arab countries”
can be published in the form of a Center for Policy Studies
discussion or policy paper or in the form of an article in policy-oriented
journal in both Arabic and English, and that may require a substantial
extension of empirical part of the paper. The conceptualization
of US aid policy to Jordan and other Arab countries and formulation
of policy recommendations in the paper can have a number of
applications for US policy towards democracy and political reform
in the Arab World in general and in Jordan in particular.
2. Holding a seminar or workshop to include some Arab and American
academics, policy makers and parliamentarians to discuss this
issue during summer 2006, in Amman or Washington- depending
on funding.
3. The policy and research paper could be published in the form
of a chapter in an edited volume on "US aid policy to the
Arab World" and. this depends in getting funding. Any suggestions
or information about this possibility from any one or institution
would be most welcomed by the author (Professor Abdel Mahdi
Alsoudi email: alsoudi@ju.edu.jo
4. The policy paper and the research findings could be published
in both Arabic and English in a monograph to be distributed
to relevant research institutions, Parliament, policy makers
in Jordan and USAID, MEPI offices in Amman, Washington and in
other Arab capitals.
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