Souq Souq A souq or souk (, "shuq", "shuka", Spanish: zoco, also spelled shuk, shooq, soq, esouk, succ, suk, sooq, suq, soek) is a marketplace or commercial quarter in Western Asian, North African and some Horn African cities () . The term "souq" goes by many alternatives in different parts of the world; in the Balkans, the term "bedesten" is used; in Malta the terms "suq" and sometimes "monti" are used for a marketplace; and in northern Morocco, the Spanish corruption "socco" is often used. The equivalent Persian term is "bazaar". In general a souq is synonymous with a bazaar or
American democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa would support free market economy at the expense of local peasants. Some critics have also argued that the U.S. has used democracy to justify military intervention abroad. American democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa American democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) aims to encourage governmental and non-governmental actors in the region to pursue political reforms that will lead ultimately to democratic governance. As an area of the world vital to American interests yet generally entrenched in non-democratic, authoritarian rule (with the exceptions of Jewish-majority democratic Israel and semi-democratic Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian National Authority