Washington ? The Bush administration has launched an ambitious bid to promote democracy in the “greater Middle East” that will adapt a model used to press for freedoms in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Senior White House and State Department officials have already begun talks with key European allies about a master plan to be put forward this summer at summits of the Group of Eight nations, NATO allies and the European Union, U.S. officials say. With international backing, the United States then hopes to win commitments of action from Middle Eastern and South Asian countries.

“It’s a sweeping change in the way we approach the Middle East,” a senior State Department official said. “We hope to roll out some of the principles for reform in talks with the Europeans over the next few weeks, with specific ideas of how to support them.”

Details are still being crafted. But the initiative, scheduled to be unveiled at the G-8 summit at Sea Island, Ga., in June, would call for Arab and South Asian governments to adopt major political reforms, be held accountable on human rights — particularly women’s empowerment — and introduce economic reforms, U.S. and European officials said.

As incentives for the targeted countries to cooperate, Western nations would offer to expand political engagement, increase aid, facilitate membership in the World Trade Organization and foster security arrangements, possibly some equivalent of the Partnership for Peace with former Eastern Bloc countries.

The U.S. approach is loosely modeled on the 1975 Helsinki Accords signed by 35 nations, including the United States, the Soviet Union and almost all European countries. It was designed to recognize disputed post-World War II borders and establish a mechanism for settling other disagreements. But human rights and fundamental freedoms became key parts of the treaty, giving the West leverage to promote and protect dissident groups in the Soviet bloc and urge greater freedoms for its residents.

“There is a belief that (Helsinki) contributed to bringing Europe together and played a significant role in tearing down the Soviet Union,” said a State Department official. “In the same way, this idea would tear down the attractiveness of (Islamic) extremism.”

European governments generally support the idea, but they have varying degrees of skepticism about whether a Helsinki-like approach will work in the Middle East, say U.S. and European officials.

Moreover, Arab countries may find political change difficult, and are more likely to be susceptible to Islamic movements, as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict goes unresolved.

U.S. officials counter that the initiative is not a substitute. “We think progress on it will help the peace process, although some of the Europeans are not convinced,” said the senior State Department official.