The state is the natural administrator of everything that is public or shared among a country's people. As such, it is the natural manager of the sustainable development project. To the best of my knowledge, no society has ever succeeded in undertaking a comprehensive development project without the direct management of the state.
On the other hand, the public’s understanding of the state and its role, their understanding of the political and social system as a whole, and their place within it, all play a pivotal role in shaping how they receive a development project and how willing they are to bear the costs required for its success.
In this context, we need to distinguish between two models through which the state manages sustainable development:
• The model familiar in most Arab countries, particularly during the last quarter of the twentieth century, where the state carried out the entire development project from beginning to end, with little or no meaningful participation from the people, especially in sensitive areas of activity, whether financial or strategic.
• The model we advocate, in which the project is launched within the framework of a broad public discussion at the societal level, and where the role of the public, as well as the project's immediate and long-term objectives, is clearly defined from the outset.
To understand the central role of society in a development project, one must focus on the concept of sustainability itself, namely that it is a gradual, long-term transformation involving changes in culture, lifestyles, and social values.
Such changes occur through struggle and perseverance within each individual, as they weigh the choice between remaining with familiar ways of life and moving toward new ones. This raises the most important question: Is the public prepared and willing to sacrifice the quality of life to which it has become accustomed and transition to a way of life whose outcomes are uncertain, and which may at times be difficult and inconvenient?
Public acceptance of sacrifice and active participation, both emotionally and practically, in the development project depends on the existence of such readiness. In turn, this readiness is shaped by the nature of the relationship between society and the state: whether it is characterized by trust or concern, cooperation or antagonism.
Trust reinforces confidence and hope in the country's future and in its policies. Such confidence may arise from the strength and rule of law, and from the sense among even the weakest citizens that the law is a genuine refuge when needed, even if their opponent is the state itself. It may also emerge simply from citizens' belief that the state represents them and empathizes with their aspirations and concerns.
The most important incentive for investment, whether domestic or foreign, is a legal environment that supports investors. This means an environment in which capital and the proceeds of labor are protected by law, where a judicial system guarantees fair litigation, and where legal stability allows people to anticipate potential changes in laws and regulations a reasonable period before they are enacted and implemented.
Such an environment creates confidence in the future. Its obvious result is the provision of the funds necessary to drive economic activity, whether those funds flow directly into development projects or contribute more broadly to market dynamism.
Popular participation in development provides something even more important: an environment that encourages creativity, corrects mistakes, and enables society to endure the hardships that development projects may entail.
Public participation requires something broader than legal protections for capital. It requires a collective sense among citizens that they are working for themselves and for future generations, and that the state is their agent and representative rather than a dominant force standing above them and controlling their destinies.
To avoid falling into ideological prescription, I should note that I regard liberal democracy as the ideal model for creating such an environment. However, it is not the only possible path.
Meaningful public participation, capable of fostering a creativity-enhancing environment, can also emerge when the people, or a significant majority of them, believe that the government represents their hopes and is capable of leading them toward the goals they aspire to achieve.
In other words, it arises when government actions, particularly within the framework of a development project, fulfill at least some of the public’s aspirations, whether short-term goals such as improving living standards or long-term ambitions such as elevating the nation's status and making it great.
