The Bush administration has identified the long-term political and economic transformation of the greater Middle East as a cornerstone of its national security strategy. Yet despite rousing presidential rhetoric and increased funding for U.S. aid programs, it remains unclear how well-suited the traditional instruments of American statecraft are for this challenging new mission. In particular, questions remain about the extent to which the U.S. government should seek to promote democratic change from within, by supporting indigenous civil society organizations in countries like Egypt, Pakistan, and Iraq.

Please join AEI for a panel discussion to discuss these and other issues. Speakers include A. Lawrence Chickering, research fellow at the Hoover Institution; P. Edward Haley, W. M. Keck Foundation Chair of International Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College; and Emily Vargas-Baron, director of the RISE Institute, authors of a forthcoming book, Strategic Foreign Assistance (Hoover Institution Press, 2006). Other participants include John Sullivan, executive director of the Center for International Private Enterprise, and Stewart Patrick, research fellow at the Center for Global Development. AEI research fellow Vance Serchuk will moderate.