BEIRUT — Nothing better captures the great contest that now defines the Middle East than four telegenic characters who have crisscrossed the region during the past week: Condoleezza Rice, Karen Hughes, Khaled Mashaal and Moqtada Sadr.
This would seem to be a match made in heaven: two democratically elected bearded Arab politicos who wish to expand their own efficient constituencies and militias into governing systems that enhance the well-being of their fellow citizens; and, two elegant and eloquent American ladies who combine the bouncy enthusiasm of young high school democracy cheerleaders with the more daring inclination to engage in political genetic engineering, in order to enhance the well-being of Arab citizens and the security of Americans in one magical move.
This happy ideological marriage has not happened. Instead, Rice and Hughes preach democracy for Arabs in the morning, then spend the afternoon fighting the incumbency of democratically-elected Arabs. In response, elected bearded Arab politicos like Mashaal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Sadr, who leads a powerful Shiite movement and militia in Iraq, increase their legitimacy and their impact through two parallel routes. They engage in electoral politics by being more responsive and accountable to the needs of their constituents, and they generate wider emotional and political appeal by defying the United States and its policies and presence in the Middle East.
This week the American ladies lost ground to the bearded Arabs. This is due to the simple reason that both the style and substance of Rice-Hughes policies run sharply counter to the sentiments of ordinary Arabs, while Mashaal-Sadr politics cater directly to ordinary people’s obvious emotional and political views.
I had the opportunity to experience the style of American diplomacy when I attended a gathering in Doha where Karen Hughes spoke. She repeated the standard Bush administration policy goals, but did so in a manner that was rather condescending and insensitive. She failed to acknowledge many legitimate Arab concerns, and preached to our region through the narrow lens of post-9/11 American hurt.
Fine for Texas barbeques, but bad news for Arabian gatherings.
My own reaction to her talk was that it was a disaster — an example of public diplomacy shooting itself in the foot, and hurting the U.S.’ image among Arabs rather than helping it. I asked perhaps 50 other Arabs, Muslims, and even some Americans at the gathering, and they all had the same view. Hughes’ aggressive, pedantic style makes us keep asking: why does Washington keep insulting us in this manner? Karen Hughes is an impressive person; her speechwriters are diplomatic nitwits.
The equally problematic substance of Washington’s policies is manifested in Rice’s trip this week to four Arab capitals. She seeks to convince Arab governments to quarantine Hamas and starve the Palestinian government of aid funds, until Hamas changes its views and actions vis-à-vis Israel. This policy will clearly be rejected by all Arab governments, and may set back the U.S.’ standing in the region more than any other action in recent years, perhaps even more than the unpopular Iraq war. This is because the American opposition to Hamas touches and sharply inflames deep nerves that already anchor widespread global skepticism about American foreign policy.
The first is the sense that the United States is neither serious nor consistent about promoting democracy. The second is that the U.S. fights mightily against Arabs or others in the region who try to manifest their identity through expressions of indigenous, mainstream political Islamism. The third is that Washington wages vigorous battles against any Arabs, Muslims or others in the world who dare to resist Israel’s occupation and subjugation of Arabs. The fourth is that Washington treats sovereign Arab governments with contempt, expecting them to ignore their own public opinion and bend to America’s desires at the snap of a finger. The fifth is that Washington reflexively parrots Israel’s neurotic views on Hamas, instead of waiting to see the policy of the new Palestinian government that Hamas will head and then defining its own policy response.
Not surprisingly, public opinion and election results throughout the Middle East now favor mainstream Islamists. These groups succeed because they simultaneously accept democratic pluralism, defy the United States, resist Israeli occupation and colonization, and demand less corruption and more efficient governance at home. Consequently, Mashaal’s and Sadr’s travels around the Middle East this week are more like a victory lap than anything else.
We must challenge some of their past behavior and future plans, to be sure. But we must also admit that these Islamist leaders have more legitimacy in the Middle East than all of Rice’s and Hughes’ copious democratic rhetoric and all the Marines in Mesopotamia put together.
What to do instead? Elected democratic incumbents in Washington, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and elsewhere should engage honestly, to move towards a common middle ground where Arab, Iranian, Turkish, European and American policies could happily coexist. This desired terrain would include indigenous religious and social values, universal good governance standards, global principles that assert national sovereignty and reject colonial occupation, and legitimate leaders who have both the political credibility and the managerial capacity to synchronize all these factors into sensible, sustainable policies. High-profile American officials should explore this more humane, mutually beneficial approach during their visits to our convoluted lands, rather than mainly lecture and offend us.
This week’s score: bearded Arabs 1, American ladies 0.
Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper, published throughout the Middle East with the International Herald Tribune.
Copyright ©2006 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 25 February 2006
Word Count: 894
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