Washington: The United States will be more actively engaged than ever before in promoting Democracy in Muslim countries, particularly in the Arab world, US State Department policy planning director Richard Haass has said.

The Arab world faces serious problems that can be met only by more flexible, Democratic political systems, said Haass in an article in a newspaper distributed by the State Department.

"Muslims cannot blame the US for their lack of Democracy. Still, the US plays a large role on the global stage, and its efforts to promote Democracy throughout the Muslim world would have sometimes been halting and incomplete," he said.

In many parts of the Muslim world, and particularly the Arab world, successive US administrations have not made Democratisation a sufficient priority, he said.

At times, the US has avoided scrutinising the internal workings of countries in the interests of ensuring a steady flow of oil, containing Soviet, Iraq and Iranian expansionism, addressing issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, resisting communism in East Asia or securing basing rights for the US military, Haass said.

"By failing to help foster gradual paths to Democratisation in many of our important relationships... we missed an opportunity to help these countries become more stable, more prosperous, more peaceful, and more adaptable to the stresses of a globalising world," he said.

There is no hidden agenda, Haass stressed.

"America's rationale in promoting Democratisation in the Muslim world is both altruistic and self-interested. Greater Democracy in Muslim majority countries is good for the people who live there. But it is also good for America."

Countries plagued by economic stagnation, lack of opportunity, closed political systems and burgeoning populations, said Haass, fuel the alienation of their citizens.

"As we have learned the hard way, such societies can be breeding grounds for extremists and terrorists who target America for supporting the regimes under which they live."

Equally important, the growing gulf between many Muslim regimes and their citizens potentially compromises the ability of these governments to co-operate on issues of vital importance to the US, such as in its efforts to combat terrorism and halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction, he said.

America, said Haass, "will support Democratic processes even if those empowered do not choose policies to our liking".

PTI