Based on the article above, the definition for civil society you developed, and additional research you do on your own, write a 250-word analysis of the challenges to growing civil society and democratic practices in the middle east (such as resistance to western ideals, western funding, and western involvement in local affairs).

There are many challenges to growing a civil society and democratic practices in the Middle East.In countries where it is relatively easier to establish pro-democracy organizations, these are still severely restricted by law. In Jordan, for instance, all NGO board members must be cleared by internal security. More problematically, the Ministry of Social Development whose primary purpose isto monitor the activities of civil society can replace NGO boards with temporary boards of its own choosing and has the power to dissolve NGOs altogether. Fear leads to self-censorship and creation of self-enforcing norms that encourage accommodation with the state and discourage confrontation. This, in effect, is repression by other means. The result is that civil society, once considered a key driver of Middle East democratization, becomes an arena of state hegemony rather than an “instrument of collective empowerment.”In addition to these set of problems, any Western strategy that includes a funding component, will inevitably face a number of obstacles. Many Arab NGOs instituted a policy of not accepting any American government funding in 2004 due to the unpopularity of the Bush administration’s policies. Some of them revised policy and began accepting funding in 2009 due to the perceived popularity of President Barack Obama.