Democracy is possible in the Muslim world, a member of Jordan's royal family told an audience of students and community members Monday afternoon.
Jordan's Prince El Hassan bin Talal said communication and "a new humanitarian order" were necessary for establishing democracy in his speech, "Can Democracy Take Root in the Muslim World?"
Hassan said that many aspects of democracy are compatible with Muslim beliefs, including the equality of all human beings.
"Muslims are called by the Koran to observe the variety of God's creation as a sign of God's creativity," Hassan said.
One obstacle in the path to democracy is communication. Establishing democracy comes from talking to each other rather than past each other, Hassan said.
Hassan suggested that one vehicle to democratization is the establishment of rational centrist movements to aid in communication and ensure that a new democracy reflected the will of the majority.
"The power pyramid has to be turned upside down," Hassan said. "People have to be in charge of their own parochial affairs."
The prince also emphasized the importance of establishing a democracy that reflected human equality and racial tolerance, not just the ballot box. Democracies must be appropriate for their regions, Hassan said, emphasizing that no particular region can serve as a benchmark for another.
Hassan said modern times have made the Muslim mind accessible and receptive to the ideals of democracy. The creation and support of a western vehicle for democracy focused on poverty alleviation will be successful in establishing democratic order.
"In that measure we will be addressing the monopoly of power by the dominant cliques" he said.
Global democracy also depends on the inclusion of all democratic states.
"Good governments are not a set idea of democracy per se, Success is conditional on creating and sustaining inclusion for all."
In Iraq, Hassan emphasized the need for conversation and objected to the use of non-elected committees in organizing democracy. Hassan joked that the details of the organization were determined by their expediency for the U.S. president.
Hassan said a legitimate Iraqi government can only be established through tolerance of different points of view and public discussion. "Peace will not be sustaining if it is not a people's peace," he said.
The prince urged a global peace effort. "A peace deal now is necessary for all our survival. The time has come to speak of the same set of principles, as a culture of compliance, where we all participate in deciding our future," Hassan said.
Other panelists included the American University of Kuwait President Shafeeq Ghabra, who emphasized the need for a middle ground between the status quo and the radical populace, and former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia and director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding Kenneth Yalowitz.
Yalowitz suggested that establishing democracy comes from a variety of sources, including the ability of democratic trainers to speak to the needs of local democratic activists, exposure of voting fraud and manipulation, good use of local media space and cohesive and democratic leadership within a country.
The prince was received by an enthusiastic audience.
"Prince Hassan did a great job of painting an overall picture of the situation in the Middle East while working in anecdotes from his personal experience," audience member Jack Groetzinger '07 said.
Hassan appeared in Cook Auditorium as part of the "Democracy, Public Opinion and Public Diplomacy in the Middle East" series, sponsored by the Rockefeller Center and the Dickey Center and the American University of Kuwait.
