religion, culture, history and the human will. Obstructions to this quest include the defective structures created by human beings – social, economic, and, above all, political. The Report argued that Arabs must remove or reform these structures in order to take the place they deserve in the rapidly growing world of knowledge. Arab Human Development Report 2004: Towards Freedom in the Arab World The starting point for the AHDR2004 was that "The Arab world finds itself at a historical crossroads. Caught between oppression at home and violation from abroad, Arabs are increasingly excluded from determining their own future." From that basis, the report sought to analyze the status and prospects for freedom in the Arab countries. The Report presented freedom as incorporating not only civil and political freedoms, but also the liberation from all factors that are inconsistent with human dignity. To be sustained and guaranteed, freedom requires a system of good governance that rests upon effective popular representation and is accountable to the people, and that upholds the rule of law and ensures that an independent judiciary applies the law impartially. The Report argued that those conditions are not present in the Arab countries. The enormous gap that separates today's reality and what many in the region hope for, the Report argued, is a source of widespread frustration and despair among Arabs about their countries' prospects for a peaceful transition to societies enjoying freedom and good governance. Based on that analysis, the Report argued that the Arab region is at a decisive point that does not allow for compromise or complacency. If the Arab peoples are to have true societies of freedom and good governance, the report argued, they will need to be innovative. "Their challenge is to create a viable mode of transition from a situation where liberty is curtailed and oppression the rule, to one of freedom and good governance that minimizes social upheaval and human costs, to the fullest extent possible." The Report's messages were discussed broadly throughout the region, and amplified by the news media. Aljazeera, for example, reviewed the Report as follows: True democracy is absent and desperately needed. Most of the time human rights are no more than a poster hung in sham councils and organisations. The educational system is severely retarded; schools produce ignorant young men and women who excel in rote memorisation more than educated innovators. Most intellectuals, even if they