CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VII (1, 2) Contemporary-Eurasia-3new | Page 97

GOR GEVORGYAN
countries was directly stipulated with the lack of willingness of the exist-
ing regimes to regulate the existing problems and their fear of losing their
own power, on the basis of which was their perception: “the stable crisis
is safer than the unstable development accompanying the reforms” (the
phrasing is by the author G.G.).
That was the reason why diff erent Arab politicians thought, not with-
out reason, that the Arab countries could not independently initiate a
modernization process of the political-economic system as the issue of
reproduction and self-preservation of the current government was on the
focus. In this context, the judiciary factory of those countries is of no less
importance, which quite often would modify and transform the existing
laws for the ruling regime in such a way so that they would also continue
hampering the process of civil society formation. 27
Thus, the “self-modernization” of the Arab world was simply an un-
successful attempt of “external refurbishing” of the current situation in
the Arab world. The Arab Reform Program was directed rather against the
US’s “The Great Middle East” concept than to the fundamental problem of
realization of the reforms, which was well-understood in Washington.
At the summit of Organization of the Islamic Conference (current
name: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) held on June 16, 2004 in Is-
tanbul, the participants noted that the successful pace of reforms in the
Arab world was directly related to the peaceful settlement of the Arab-Is-
raeli confl ict. The participants with obvious restrain referred to the US
ambitious “The Great Middle East” concept and noted that the problem of
“modernization” of the Arab world was exclusively the matter of the Arab
countries. 28
In lieu of conclusion
In June 2006, the US Secretary of State C. Rice put into circulation a
conceptual defi nition called New Middle East. It was directed at secur-
ing American domination in the Middle East, which actually would re-
place “The Great Middle East concept”. 29 In 2006, at a meeting between
27
28
29
Volker Perthes, Arab Elites, Negotiating the Polities of Change, (London: Lynne Rienner
Publishers, 2004), 5.
A. Kornilov, “Tureckaya diplomatiya v islamskom mire: problem I prioritety deyatelnosti,”
(in Russian), [“Turkish diplomacy in the Islamic world: problems and priorities of activity”],
http://www.idmedina.ru/books/materials/rmforum/1/sect2_kornilov.htm (accessed Septem-
ber, 15, 2018).
M. Nazemroava, “Plany peredela Blijnego Vostoka: proyekt dlya “Novogo Blijnego Vosto-
ka,” (in Russian), [“Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a “New Middle
East”], Center for Research on Globalization, Novermber 18, 2006, http://www.globalre-
search.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882 (ac-
cessed November 20, 2006).
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