{"id":353,"date":"2022-10-16T02:40:31","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T02:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/religionsofmiddleeast1\/?post_type=chapter&p=353"},"modified":"2022-11-04T01:51:30","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T01:51:30","slug":"has-democracy-failed-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/religionsofmiddleeast1\/chapter\/has-democracy-failed-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 4. Has Democracy Failed in the Middle East?"},"content":{"raw":"When considering the modern Middle East, Westerners often ask the question, \"Is Islam compatible with democracy?\"\u202f Depending upon who you speak with, you are liable to find different answers to this question.\u202f\u202fMuslims living in the West usually (although not always) argue that Islam is quite compatible with democracy, and that the lack of democracy in Islamic countries is due to corrupt leadership which, ironically enough, is often allied with Western countries such as the United\u202fStates.\u202fSome Islamists view democracy as contradictory to Islamic principles, arguing that the proper form of government within Islam is a theocracy and that a Muslim country should never place the will of the people ahead of the will of God as expressed in the Qur'an and\u202fshari`a\u202flaw.\u202f Still other Muslims argue that some forms of democracy can work within the Islamic world, but that they prefer democratic models that allow\u202fa larger role for religion within the government, as opposed to Western secular principles of democracy.\r\n\r\nThe track record of democracy in Islamic countries has been mixed.\u202f It is easy to locate examples of countries in which democracy has been unsuccessful.\u202f More difficult to answer is the question of why democracy seems to have failed in those countries.\u202f Is it really because Islam is undemocratic in its very nature?\u202f Or does it make more sense to blame the failures of democracy in Islamic countries on other factors, such as political or cultural conditions, historical experience with democratic forms of government, economic conditions, etc?\r\n\r\nThe fact is that there are examples of Islamic countries that have utilized democratic practices within their governments.\u202f Several of them are located outside the Middle East, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.\u00a0 All of these countries would count as younger democracies and all have had flaws in their democracies.\u202f Some Islamic countries use certain democratic forms without being true democracies.\u202f Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon\u202ffit into this category.\u202f\u202fThese countries regularly hold elections, but have placed restrictions on the results of those elections.\u202f Some countries, such as Iraq, are new democracies and it remains to be seen how democracy will function in the long run (although given recent events in that country, it certainly appears that democracy is on the verge of failure there yet again).\u202f However, recent polls conducted within the Islamic world have indicated a broad popular base of support for democracy within Muslim countries.\u202f If democracy has not yet appeared in these countries, it does not seem to be because most Muslims view democracy as being opposed to Islamic values.\r\n\r\nDemocracy in Turkey<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nTurkey is a country that has been using democratic processes since the 1940s.\u00a0 It has had its ups and downs, with elected governments being removed from power in military coups several times (1960, 1971, 1980, 1996).\u00a0 Each time this has happened the military has tweaked the constitution or the laws, sometimes banned certain political parties, and then stepped aside to allow another election to take place.\u00a0 The military has justified these coups by identifying itself as the keepers of the legacy of Ataturk.\u00a0 When they have intervened in the government, it has been because they believed that the secular identity of the Turkish Republic was being threatened.\u00a0 However, European pressure on Turkey to strengthen civilian control over the military in preparation for EU membership helped to weaken military influence since the \u201csoft coup\u201d of 1997, providing an opportunity for the Islamist AKP party to take power in 2002.\r\n\r\nIn 2002 the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by\u00a0former Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, swept into\u00a0power on a moderate Islamic platform.\u00a0 \u00a0The AKP claimed\u00a0to be committed to Turkey's secular principles, to freedom\u00a0of speech and of religion, and to Turkey's attempts to join\u00a0the European Union.\u00a0 It was a stunning transition in the most\u00a0secular of Middle Eastern countries, the land of Ataturk.\u200bThe AKP\u2019s liberal economic policies, in the midst of an economic crisis, helped it gained support.\u00a0 The election was heavily contested.\u00a0 AKP only obtained 35% of the popular vote but controlled nearly two thirds of the seats in parliament due to divisions among the main secularist parties.\u00a0 Erdogan was initially banned from serving as prime minister due to his conviction in 1998 for publicly reciting a poem that incited racial intolerance, so that AKP co-founder Abdullah G\u00fcl initially became prime minister.\u00a0 The ban was overturned in 2003, allowing Erdogan to take office as prime minister.\r\n\r\nThe AKP had a number of successes in its early years.\u00a0 Turkey's\u00a0economy boomed in the early 2000s and the AKP gained the\u00a0reputation for solid economic management.\u200bErdogan actively pursued Turkish membership in the European\u00a0Union, but became disillusioned when he realized the strong\u00a0opposition of some EU states to the idea of Turkish\u00a0membership.\u200bIn 2012, Erdogan negotiated an historic agreement between\u00a0the Turkish government and the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey. However, in recent years relations between the government and the Kurdish movements have deteriorated,\u00a0resulting in more violence.\u200bErdogan also pushed through constitutional changes in 2007\u00a0and 2010 and managed to gain control over the military\u00a0through appointments of cronies into high positions.\u00a0 However,\u00a0he was beginning to demonstrate considerable authoritarian\u00a0tendencies.\r\n\r\nIn 2013, public protests in Gezi Park (Istanbul) decried the\u00a0growing AKP authoritarianism.\u00a0 The government cracked\u00a0down harshly on protestors. Later that year a\u00a0corruption\u00a0scandal\u00a0broke, involving key government ministers and\u00a0Erdogan allies.\u00a0 Erdogan blamed the\u00a0Hizmet\u00a0party, founded\u00a0by Turkish cleric Fethullah\u00a0G\u00fclen, and closed some of their\u00a0schools.\u200bIn 2014, Erdogan moved from the position of Prime Minister\u00a0to that of President, and later managed to eliminate the\u00a0position of Prime Minister.\u00a0 Some criticized this move as a\u00a0power grab, along with ongoing allegations of corruption.\u200bIn July 2016 members of the military attempted a coup\u00a0d'etat, but it was defeated by the AKP, with the support of\u00a0many civilians.\u00a0 Erdogan has blamed Hizmet\u00a0and issued a\u00a0major crackdown on journalists, school teachers, and any\u00a0other people associated with the party.\u00a0 Thousands remain\u00a0under arrest without proper trial.\r\n\r\nIn light of Erdogan\u2019s crackdown on all opposition following the attempted coup, many observers have argued that Turkey\u2019s long-established democracy is in jeopardy.\u00a0 Erdogan\u2019s commitment to democracy has been questioned and the AKP\u2019s early acceptance of democratic principles is being seen by some as simply a strategy used to gain power.\u00a0 With the recent abandonment of Turkey\u2019s pursuit to join the EU, the external pressure from Western countries for liberal reform has been neutralized.\u00a0 Secularists, liberals and moderate Islamists, such as Hizmet, have been brutally repressed and stripped of their influence in the last two years.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Erdogan has used his 17 years in power to place supporters in all of the key positions within the country.\u00a0 He maintains popularity through the use of fear-mongering, asserting that terrorists, imperialists, and other \u201cenemies\u201d are a threat to Turkey\u2019s independence.\r\n\r\nOne encouraging sign that Turkish democracy is not dead was AKP defeats at the polls in Turkey\u2019s two most important cities (Ankara and Istanbul) in 2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Even after Erdogan forced the Istanbul election to be re-run, the AKP candidate still lost.\u00a0 However, with a big presidential election looming in 2023, Erdogan has pushed through changes in election laws that will strengthen his party\u2019s chances at the expense of rival parties.\u00a0 With high inflation and economic struggles plaguing the country, it remains to be seen whether Erdogan will be able to continue to manipulate Turkish laws to bolster his hold on power.\r\n\r\nDemocracy in Israel and the Arab countries<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\nFor the most part, Arab countries have so far been unsuccessful in establishing true democracies.\u00a0 Algeria had a short fling with democracy in the early 1990s, but when the polls brought an Islamist party into power, the military stepped in and cancelled elections.\u00a0 This resulted in a bloody ten year civil war that finally came to an end in 2022.\u00a0 Following the Arab Spring, Egypt held a free election in 2012 which brought the Islamist Muslim Brothers into power.\u00a0 That experiment lasted for a year before the military took over in a coup in July 2013.\u00a0 Iraq has held democratic elections since 2005, but there are a number of problems with Iraqi democracy included partisan divisions, corruption and security threats.\u00a0 For instance, the Iraqi parliament was deadlocked and unable to choose a president and a prime minister for almost a year following elections in October 2021.\r\n\r\nFor several years following the Arab Spring, Tunisia seemed to be making progress towards democratic government, holding a series of free elections between 2011 and 2021.\u00a0 However, the government was frequently divided, and thus unable to push through significant reforms, leaving many poorer Tunisians, and those living in rural areas, feeling that their circumstances had not improved.\u00a0 Furthermore, the country became unsettled by a series of terrorist attacks and growing frustration over ineffective governance by squabbling politicians.\u00a0 In 2019, Tunisians elected a political outsider, Kais Saied, as president.\u00a0 He took advantage of the COVID 19 crisis to dismiss the prime minister and suspend parliament on July 25, 2021, instituting an autocratic regime.\u00a0 The one Arab Spring country that had made progress toward democracy now sees that progress being jeopardized with the return of authoritarian rule.\r\n\r\nIsraelis have long boasted that their country is the one true democracy in the Middle East.\u00a0 Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that this is the case.\u00a0 The country has a strong tradition of multiparty democracy and independent institutions that protect civil liberties.\u00a0 However, Freedom House notes, \u201cthe political leadership and many in society have discriminated against Arab and other ethnic or religious minority populations resulting in systematic disparities in areas including political representation, criminal justice, education, and economic opportunity.\u201d\u00a0 Things are even worse in the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.\u00a0 Since Hamas won a 2006 election in the Palestinian Authority, there has been a civil war between Hamas and Fatah, leaving Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in charge of the West Bank, and there have been no free elections since then.\u00a0 Furthermore, Israel has blockaded Gaza and places numerous restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank, such that neither territory can be said to be truly free.\r\n\r\nDemocracy in the Middle East: Is there hope for the future?<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>All this paints a bleak picture of the future of democracy in the region.\u00a0 But all hope is not lost.\u00a0 Regionwide polls continue to show that many residents are tired of autocracy and desire more participatory governments.\u00a0 Economic, international and political conditions have so far not been conducive for the development of democracy in the Middle East, but that may not always be the case.\u00a0 Though the Arab Spring appears for now to have failed to change things for the better, it is important to recognize that it took European nations a long time to establish successful democracies.\u00a0 In fact, there was a series of revolutions in Europe during 1848 that bear some resemblances to the Arab Spring.\u00a0 Within a few years of those revolutions, authoritarian leaders were back in charge, but over the long run most European states eventually transitioned to successful democracies.\u00a0 Most Middle Eastern countries have been independent for less than eighty years.\u00a0 There may still be some hope for democracy in the Middle East.\r\n\r\nThe following links discuss the topic of democracy in the Middle East.\u00a0 The first five links are to Freedom House reports on electoral freedom in Israel, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.\u00a0 The sixth link is to the website of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, which refers to the Middle East as \"the most authoritarian region in the world.\"\u00a0 The final link is to the results of an opinion poll called \"Arab Barometer\" which was conducted in Arab countries in October 2018 on Arab views about democracy.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/israel\/freedom-world\/2021<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/iraq\/freedom-world\/2020<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/tunisia\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/egypt\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/turkey\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.idea.int\/gsod\/africa-middle-east<\/a>\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/www.arabbarometer.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Democracy_Public-Opinion_Middle-east_North-Africa_2018.pdf<\/a>","rendered":"

When considering the modern Middle East, Westerners often ask the question, “Is Islam compatible with democracy?”\u202f Depending upon who you speak with, you are liable to find different answers to this question.\u202f\u202fMuslims living in the West usually (although not always) argue that Islam is quite compatible with democracy, and that the lack of democracy in Islamic countries is due to corrupt leadership which, ironically enough, is often allied with Western countries such as the United\u202fStates.\u202fSome Islamists view democracy as contradictory to Islamic principles, arguing that the proper form of government within Islam is a theocracy and that a Muslim country should never place the will of the people ahead of the will of God as expressed in the Qur’an and\u202fshari`a\u202flaw.\u202f Still other Muslims argue that some forms of democracy can work within the Islamic world, but that they prefer democratic models that allow\u202fa larger role for religion within the government, as opposed to Western secular principles of democracy.<\/p>\n

The track record of democracy in Islamic countries has been mixed.\u202f It is easy to locate examples of countries in which democracy has been unsuccessful.\u202f More difficult to answer is the question of why democracy seems to have failed in those countries.\u202f Is it really because Islam is undemocratic in its very nature?\u202f Or does it make more sense to blame the failures of democracy in Islamic countries on other factors, such as political or cultural conditions, historical experience with democratic forms of government, economic conditions, etc?<\/p>\n

The fact is that there are examples of Islamic countries that have utilized democratic practices within their governments.\u202f Several of them are located outside the Middle East, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.\u00a0 All of these countries would count as younger democracies and all have had flaws in their democracies.\u202f Some Islamic countries use certain democratic forms without being true democracies.\u202f Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon\u202ffit into this category.\u202f\u202fThese countries regularly hold elections, but have placed restrictions on the results of those elections.\u202f Some countries, such as Iraq, are new democracies and it remains to be seen how democracy will function in the long run (although given recent events in that country, it certainly appears that democracy is on the verge of failure there yet again).\u202f However, recent polls conducted within the Islamic world have indicated a broad popular base of support for democracy within Muslim countries.\u202f If democracy has not yet appeared in these countries, it does not seem to be because most Muslims view democracy as being opposed to Islamic values.<\/p>\n

Democracy in Turkey<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Turkey is a country that has been using democratic processes since the 1940s.\u00a0 It has had its ups and downs, with elected governments being removed from power in military coups several times (1960, 1971, 1980, 1996).\u00a0 Each time this has happened the military has tweaked the constitution or the laws, sometimes banned certain political parties, and then stepped aside to allow another election to take place.\u00a0 The military has justified these coups by identifying itself as the keepers of the legacy of Ataturk.\u00a0 When they have intervened in the government, it has been because they believed that the secular identity of the Turkish Republic was being threatened.\u00a0 However, European pressure on Turkey to strengthen civilian control over the military in preparation for EU membership helped to weaken military influence since the \u201csoft coup\u201d of 1997, providing an opportunity for the Islamist AKP party to take power in 2002.<\/p>\n

In 2002 the Justice and Development Party (AKP), led by\u00a0former Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan, swept into\u00a0power on a moderate Islamic platform.\u00a0 \u00a0The AKP claimed\u00a0to be committed to Turkey’s secular principles, to freedom\u00a0of speech and of religion, and to Turkey’s attempts to join\u00a0the European Union.\u00a0 It was a stunning transition in the most\u00a0secular of Middle Eastern countries, the land of Ataturk.\u200bThe AKP\u2019s liberal economic policies, in the midst of an economic crisis, helped it gained support.\u00a0 The election was heavily contested.\u00a0 AKP only obtained 35% of the popular vote but controlled nearly two thirds of the seats in parliament due to divisions among the main secularist parties.\u00a0 Erdogan was initially banned from serving as prime minister due to his conviction in 1998 for publicly reciting a poem that incited racial intolerance, so that AKP co-founder Abdullah G\u00fcl initially became prime minister.\u00a0 The ban was overturned in 2003, allowing Erdogan to take office as prime minister.<\/p>\n

The AKP had a number of successes in its early years.\u00a0 Turkey’s\u00a0economy boomed in the early 2000s and the AKP gained the\u00a0reputation for solid economic management.\u200bErdogan actively pursued Turkish membership in the European\u00a0Union, but became disillusioned when he realized the strong\u00a0opposition of some EU states to the idea of Turkish\u00a0membership.\u200bIn 2012, Erdogan negotiated an historic agreement between\u00a0the Turkish government and the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey. However, in recent years relations between the government and the Kurdish movements have deteriorated,\u00a0resulting in more violence.\u200bErdogan also pushed through constitutional changes in 2007\u00a0and 2010 and managed to gain control over the military\u00a0through appointments of cronies into high positions.\u00a0 However,\u00a0he was beginning to demonstrate considerable authoritarian\u00a0tendencies.<\/p>\n

In 2013, public protests in Gezi Park (Istanbul) decried the\u00a0growing AKP authoritarianism.\u00a0 The government cracked\u00a0down harshly on protestors. Later that year a\u00a0corruption\u00a0scandal\u00a0broke, involving key government ministers and\u00a0Erdogan allies.\u00a0 Erdogan blamed the\u00a0Hizmet\u00a0party, founded\u00a0by Turkish cleric Fethullah\u00a0G\u00fclen, and closed some of their\u00a0schools.\u200bIn 2014, Erdogan moved from the position of Prime Minister\u00a0to that of President, and later managed to eliminate the\u00a0position of Prime Minister.\u00a0 Some criticized this move as a\u00a0power grab, along with ongoing allegations of corruption.\u200bIn July 2016 members of the military attempted a coup\u00a0d’etat, but it was defeated by the AKP, with the support of\u00a0many civilians.\u00a0 Erdogan has blamed Hizmet\u00a0and issued a\u00a0major crackdown on journalists, school teachers, and any\u00a0other people associated with the party.\u00a0 Thousands remain\u00a0under arrest without proper trial.<\/p>\n

In light of Erdogan\u2019s crackdown on all opposition following the attempted coup, many observers have argued that Turkey\u2019s long-established democracy is in jeopardy.\u00a0 Erdogan\u2019s commitment to democracy has been questioned and the AKP\u2019s early acceptance of democratic principles is being seen by some as simply a strategy used to gain power.\u00a0 With the recent abandonment of Turkey\u2019s pursuit to join the EU, the external pressure from Western countries for liberal reform has been neutralized.\u00a0 Secularists, liberals and moderate Islamists, such as Hizmet, have been brutally repressed and stripped of their influence in the last two years.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Erdogan has used his 17 years in power to place supporters in all of the key positions within the country.\u00a0 He maintains popularity through the use of fear-mongering, asserting that terrorists, imperialists, and other \u201cenemies\u201d are a threat to Turkey\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n

One encouraging sign that Turkish democracy is not dead was AKP defeats at the polls in Turkey\u2019s two most important cities (Ankara and Istanbul) in 2019.\u00a0\u00a0 Even after Erdogan forced the Istanbul election to be re-run, the AKP candidate still lost.\u00a0 However, with a big presidential election looming in 2023, Erdogan has pushed through changes in election laws that will strengthen his party\u2019s chances at the expense of rival parties.\u00a0 With high inflation and economic struggles plaguing the country, it remains to be seen whether Erdogan will be able to continue to manipulate Turkish laws to bolster his hold on power.<\/p>\n

Democracy in Israel and the Arab countries<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For the most part, Arab countries have so far been unsuccessful in establishing true democracies.\u00a0 Algeria had a short fling with democracy in the early 1990s, but when the polls brought an Islamist party into power, the military stepped in and cancelled elections.\u00a0 This resulted in a bloody ten year civil war that finally came to an end in 2022.\u00a0 Following the Arab Spring, Egypt held a free election in 2012 which brought the Islamist Muslim Brothers into power.\u00a0 That experiment lasted for a year before the military took over in a coup in July 2013.\u00a0 Iraq has held democratic elections since 2005, but there are a number of problems with Iraqi democracy included partisan divisions, corruption and security threats.\u00a0 For instance, the Iraqi parliament was deadlocked and unable to choose a president and a prime minister for almost a year following elections in October 2021.<\/p>\n

For several years following the Arab Spring, Tunisia seemed to be making progress towards democratic government, holding a series of free elections between 2011 and 2021.\u00a0 However, the government was frequently divided, and thus unable to push through significant reforms, leaving many poorer Tunisians, and those living in rural areas, feeling that their circumstances had not improved.\u00a0 Furthermore, the country became unsettled by a series of terrorist attacks and growing frustration over ineffective governance by squabbling politicians.\u00a0 In 2019, Tunisians elected a political outsider, Kais Saied, as president.\u00a0 He took advantage of the COVID 19 crisis to dismiss the prime minister and suspend parliament on July 25, 2021, instituting an autocratic regime.\u00a0 The one Arab Spring country that had made progress toward democracy now sees that progress being jeopardized with the return of authoritarian rule.<\/p>\n

Israelis have long boasted that their country is the one true democracy in the Middle East.\u00a0 Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that this is the case.\u00a0 The country has a strong tradition of multiparty democracy and independent institutions that protect civil liberties.\u00a0 However, Freedom House notes, \u201cthe political leadership and many in society have discriminated against Arab and other ethnic or religious minority populations resulting in systematic disparities in areas including political representation, criminal justice, education, and economic opportunity.\u201d\u00a0 Things are even worse in the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.\u00a0 Since Hamas won a 2006 election in the Palestinian Authority, there has been a civil war between Hamas and Fatah, leaving Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in charge of the West Bank, and there have been no free elections since then.\u00a0 Furthermore, Israel has blockaded Gaza and places numerous restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank, such that neither territory can be said to be truly free.<\/p>\n

Democracy in the Middle East: Is there hope for the future?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>All this paints a bleak picture of the future of democracy in the region.\u00a0 But all hope is not lost.\u00a0 Regionwide polls continue to show that many residents are tired of autocracy and desire more participatory governments.\u00a0 Economic, international and political conditions have so far not been conducive for the development of democracy in the Middle East, but that may not always be the case.\u00a0 Though the Arab Spring appears for now to have failed to change things for the better, it is important to recognize that it took European nations a long time to establish successful democracies.\u00a0 In fact, there was a series of revolutions in Europe during 1848 that bear some resemblances to the Arab Spring.\u00a0 Within a few years of those revolutions, authoritarian leaders were back in charge, but over the long run most European states eventually transitioned to successful democracies.\u00a0 Most Middle Eastern countries have been independent for less than eighty years.\u00a0 There may still be some hope for democracy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The following links discuss the topic of democracy in the Middle East.\u00a0 The first five links are to Freedom House reports on electoral freedom in Israel, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.\u00a0 The sixth link is to the website of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, which refers to the Middle East as “the most authoritarian region in the world.”\u00a0 The final link is to the results of an opinion poll called “Arab Barometer” which was conducted in Arab countries in October 2018 on Arab views about democracy.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/israel\/freedom-world\/2021<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/iraq\/freedom-world\/2020<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/tunisia\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/egypt\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/freedomhouse.org\/country\/turkey\/freedom-world\/2022<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.idea.int\/gsod\/africa-middle-east<\/a><\/p>\n

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