Richard Youngs and Zane Kanderian

March 2004

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New approaches are called for in the West's relations with the Middle East. Traditional alliances with authoritarian regimes in the Middle East are not working to protect and further Western interests. They are incapable of dealing with the contemporary security issues that the attacks of 9/11 pushed so painfully to the fore of international debate. Rather, policy must comprehend the provenance of discontent and of violence legitimised in religious terms by its perpetrators.

Civility aims to encourage the foreign policies of Western nations towards active and long-term support for the development of Middle Eastern civil society.