"Home-grown decisions are lasting. Imposed decisions will not stand the test of time." Shaukat Aziz Prime Minister of Pakistan

Because of the many challenges facing the Middle East today, political and business leaders attending the Forum expressed a strong desire to move faster on political participation and dialogue so that issues related to democracy, peace and security can be advanced. While acknowledging that democracy has been gaining momentum in the Arab world, many leaders emphasized that change had to come from societies themselves— on their own terms and at their own pace. Much of that change, they said, needs to come through the participation of civil society.

In the Middle East, democracy, peace and security seem as elusive as ever; compared to other regions, the challenges of reform are great. However, many political and business leaders are making decisions that are defining a long-term vision of stability and prosperity for their countries and region. With much of the dialogue at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East focused on unrest in Iraq, the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and growing fears of a nuclear Iran, there was a sense of urgency for countries to increase the dialogue in a changing Arab world (see Box 8).

"The challenge is to make change irreversible and sustainable," stated M. Shafik Gabr, Chairman and Managing Director, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt: Chairman of the Arab Business Council; Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. Gabr and others see democracy, peace and security as interconnected, but that achieving these objectives will take time. It was widely acknowledged that reform is taking place in the region, but that there is no "one-sizefits- all" approach.

The challenge in the Arab world is to manage change in a way that preserves the best in society, giving ordinary people greater freedom and choice while ensuring security and protection from injustice. Many in the region realize the scope of these challenges and many governments are already taking important steps towards economic, social and political reform; others are following.

Box 8: Dialogue on Peace and Security
During the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced an internal dialogue aimed at unifying the Palestinian political landscape in light of increasing friction and violence between rival parties.	Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Tzipi Livni
"The dialogue is about unifying political positions," said President Abbas. While announcing the dialogue, Abbas reiterated his determination to seek a two-state solution, reject violence and resolve the Palestinian- Israeli conflict through a peace process, in particular, by implementing the UN-supported roadmap. "We have no way before us but to continue the peace process," said Abbas. "Israel should accept our call to return to the negotiating table." A meeting between Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas took place during the Summit, the first highlevel meeting between the two sides in eleven months. "The meeting was very important," Livni said. "A meeting between Israel’s Prime Minister and Abbas will be the next step."

"There are going to be problems and setbacks, but in any reform process leaders will have to make difficult choices," said Gamal H. Mubarak, Head, Policy Secretariat, National Democratic Party, Egypt. "Any political party or leader has to change how they communicate if they want to convince people about the importance of a vision. People need to see results."

While results may be slow in coming in some countries, there is overall agreement that reform is necessary and should include participation from all facets of civil society, including non-governmental organizations, women and youth.

According to the IMF, more than half of the Arab world is under 18 years of age. In the next 15 years, the school-age population of the Middle East will increase by 19% to 13.6 million people. How will they define the future?

"If we empower civil society to fill the political vacuum, the next generation will have choices and can exercise their freedom. This is the way to democratization," said Mona S. Zulficar, Attorneyat - Law, Shalakany Law Office, Egypt.

Zulficar and others underlined the importance of gender equality, noting that there can be no democracy without women sharing fairly in the process. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, women hold only 6.8% of parliamentary seats in the Arab states. At the Summit, the Women Leaders Programme of the World Economic Forum brought together, for the first time, women regional ministers, who made a commitment to develop a five-year action plan for public and private sector policies to address the region’s gender gap.

Democracy in the Arab world has been gaining momentum, but many acknowledge that the process has to be "home-grown" if it is to succeed.

"All [Arab] countries and societies want to move ahead and have their own view on how to do so," explained Amre Moussa, Secretary-General, League of Arab States, Cairo. "Reform is something that we support, but we have to be cautious because of the fragility of the security situation and uncertainty on the international scene."

This view is supported by the World Economic Forum’s survey on the Middle East, which showed that 41% of participants said escalating violence in the Middle East was a major strategic concern for business (see Box 9). Other participants echoed the sentiments of the Arab League Secretary-General, stressing that resolving conflicts in the region — particularly the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — is important if democracy in the Arab world is to move in the right direction and to mitigate some of the effects of instability.

Box 9: Global Risks and the Middle East

Before the Summit, the Global Risk Programme of the World Economic Forum surveyed business participants about their perception of the broader strategic risk environment in which they lead their corporations. Most respondents identified the escalation of violence in the Middle East and the rise of terrorism as key concerns. Violence and terrorism are a major concern for almost 80% of those responding, supporting the argument that Middle East economies and business communities can only prosper in a more stable political environment. Over 25% of corporate leaders spend more than 10% of their company’s budget on ensuring business continuity and attempting to diversify activities across locations in order to balance their risk portfolio. Over 25% of business leaders turn to the World Economic Forum to identify broader strategic risks when faced with a strategic decision for their company.