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The nonpartisan, nonprofit Project on Middle East Democracy's analysis of President Barack Obama's budget requests has found two policy changes the organization considers noteworthy.

The first difference is that, according to the report, the Democratic-controlled Congress withheld foreign Mideast aid for democracy promotion from President George W. Bush, but has fulfilled Obama's requests and resumed fully funding democratic initiatives in the Middle East.

The second difference is that, while Obama has requested increases in many categories of foreign aid to Mideast countries -- most explicitly to fund the increased projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- he has requested deep cuts in the amount of aid to be given to civil society actors in those countries in favor of more funds for government-affiliated groups and programs.

Additionally, the report notes the success of a Bush administration policy that vastly increased transparency and scrutiny of the projects over the secretive Mideast funding of prior administrations.

"President Obama's budget for FY10 (fiscal year 2010) is important because it represents a broader demonstration of the priorities of his administration than we had seen previously," the author, Stephen McInerney, writes. "While the new president has made several trips abroad and given a number of high-profile speeches to set the tone for the foreign policy of his new administration, the budget is a substantive indicator of policy priorities."

McInerney, who studied at the American Universities of Beirut and Cairo, has written on the Middle East for The New Republic, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Post. He is the director of advocacy for the Project on Middle East Democracy.

The total budget request for the Middle East and North Africa for the fiscal year 2010 is $11 billion, which the report notes is a 48 percent increase from Bush's last request for last year.

Requested funding for democracy and governance programs is double last year's, though the majority is for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.

"Of the total $1.54 billion requested, 86% is designated for these three countries," McInterney writes. "Aside from these countries, funding for democracy and governance programs in the remainder of the region is increased, but far more modestly -- up 14% from $190 million allocated in FY09."

McInerney writes that while aid to some countries that analysts believed were being underfunded, such as Morocco and Yemen, has increased, funding for civil society groups is down.

"The administration reduced its support for civil society through bilateral foreign assistance in the Arab world, while adding funding to State Department tools specifically designed for such work, including MEPI (Bush's Middle East Partnership Initiative) and the Middle East programming within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL)," McInerney states. "However, the cuts to civil society are far greater than the new increases. Compared to current levels of funding, the FY10 request represents a 29% cut for Arab civil society programs."

McInerney reports that Egypt and Jordan face the steepest cuts, at 40 percent, though some Bush administration initiatives, such as MEPI and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), will continue to be funded.

"Whereas Congressional support for a variety of foreign assistance programs, including MEPI and MCC, faded during the last few years of the Bush administration, the Democrat-controlled Congress appears to be much more comfortable granting funds for similar requests to the new President and administration, at least in its first year," according to the report.

McInerney writes that funding for programs that directly affect or work with the Middle Eastern governments will increase dramatically. Such programs include constitutional reform, crime prevention, strengthening executive and legislative government branches, and promoting multi-party elections.

The programs that will face cuts include strengthening independent media, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), independent think tanks, and labor unions.

McInerney commends a Bush administration reform that set clear-cut definitions of various programs and beneficiaries.

"Previously, it was not uncommon for administrators to find that in-country infrastructure projects such as road-building and water treatment plants were classified as democracy programs in budget documents," McInerney writes. "While this may still exist, it appears that the establishment of consistent definitions and categories has reduced this effect significantly."

Other notable features of the budget request include no funds specifically designated for Iran, and a 70 percent cut in aid to Palestinian civil society groups, while other funding for the West Bank and Gaza remain steady.

McInerney concludes that overall, the budget is supportive of human and political rights throughout the Middle East.

"It concretely demonstrates that support for democracy and human rights will be a serious component of the administration's foreign policy in priority countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, in Lebanon, long viewed as an Arab state of strategic importance, as well as in oft-overlooked countries like Morocco and Yemen," McInerney writes, adding that in the months ahead, Obama will need to add diplomacy and other policy tools to complement its foreign aid and support democracy in the Middle East.