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, hasbecome a central pillar in American Middle East foreign policy as well as an integral element in the Global Waron Terrorism (GWOT). How will this advocacy of democracy be received, given our theoretical and historicalknowledge? The underlying assumption of U.S. policy is that democracy will moderate some of the anti-Americansentiments from the region as well as undermine terrorist activities and support. Will overt American promotion ofdemocracy cause these states to democratize? Using aspects of social movement theory, this thesis examines Arabreactions to public American promotion of democracy. I argue that America's campaign is counterproductivebecause it has polarized the political discourse, a result which weakens potential sources of internal pressure anddistorts understandings of democracy, thus facilitating states maintenance of the status quo. It does this throughframing the message as inherently American and spurring opposing movements. Using al-Jazeera data derivedfrom the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), I recorded the connotations associated with eacharticulation of the word "democracy" to create a sample of competing frames to observe opposing movementdevelopments and frame contest trends.