The Al-Arabiya Move
It popped up on television last night and I had two reactions. The first was a sense of met expectation. Part of the rationale for Obama's presidency from a foreign policy perspective was always his unique capacity to rebrand America in the eyes of the Muslim world. Since even the hardest core neocons agree that wooing the Muslim center is critical to winning the long war against Jihadism, Obama's outreach is unremarkable and should be utterly uncontroversial. Bush tried for a while to do the same. But Karen Hughes is not exactly Barack Obama. And the simple gesture of choosing an Arab media outlet for his first televised interview as president is extremely powerful. It has the elegance of a minimalist move with maximalist aims. It is about the same thing as inviting Rick Warren or supping with George Will: it's about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
This respect came with the following astonishing words:
<SNIP>
What Obama is doing is appealing over the heads of Muslim leaders directly to Muslim populations. I cannot think of any other president with the same kind of personal credibility in such a critical time. And his appeal is to relieve the state of humankind:
he bottom line in all these talks and all these conversations is, is a child in the Palestinian Territories going to be better off? Do they have a future for themselves? And is the child in Israel going to feel confident about his or her safety and security? And if we can keep our focus on making their lives better and look forward, and not simply think about all the conflicts and tragedies of the past, then I think that we have an opportunity to make real progress.
Onto the choppy waters of religious strife, the old oil of material improvement. It's a way in; a way to change the subject; a subtle appeal to Muslim and Arab peoples on common ground.
And, of course, it begs the question. Is he serious? Is this a huge hinge of history - or just a rebranding of an old policy with the old interests at play? And the truth is: we cannot know. The odds are against him. Israel seems to be entering a period of a defensive crouch so intense it will spurn all efforts to save it; the Arab regimes are as potentially threatened by Obama's opening as anyone; Hamas and Iran and Hezbollah and al Qaeda are temporarily flummoxed but will be eager to foil any grand bargain.
My sense, for what it's worth, is that Obama is genuine. He doesn't know whether this bold new play will pay dividends any more than we do. What he does know, I think, is that we have no choice. The trajectory of the current global conflict, centered on the question of Islam and modernity, is an apocalyptic one if the game isn't changed soon. He is attempting to change the game. Which led me to my second reaction.
Hope.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/01/the-al-arabiya.htmlThe Al-Arabiya Move, Ctd
A reader writes:
I, too, was struck by this interview. I am Muslim (a convert) and have been on board with Obama since Iowa. My husband's family (Lebanese Sunni) have always been skeptical about Obama, his motives and his intentions throughout the campaign. I always forwarded them information during the campaign about Obama's positions on the Middle East, the I/P situation, etc. telling them "This guy is different". Their response has been "Just because his middle name is Hussein doesn't mean he will be a friend to the Muslim world", preferring to wait it out and see his actions.
Well, this interview changed a lot of their minds! The most skeptical, my brother in law, who is from Syria, was shocked that he mentioned his Muslim family, knowing that during the campaign he tried to downplay this information. He was also surprised (and elated) when Obama said "
needs to start by listening...typically in the past we have started by dictating". The rest of my family was pleasantly surprised, and very happy when he said (paraphrase) "But these are just words, and what we need now are actions." This impressed them greatly. The most striking aspect they liked was his empathy for Muslim children and their lives. This really resonated for them.
If the reaction of my family is any indication (cynical, jaded, suspicious of American influence) he hit it out of the park.
When the tectonic plates shift a little below ...
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/01/the-al-arabiy-1.html
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