US Foreign Policy From A Middle Eastern Perspective: Slow And Failing -
Analysis
By: <
http://www.eurasiareview.com/author/inegma/> INEGMA
October 29, 2012
By Riad Kahwaji
The U.S. Administration of President Barak Obama is about to complete its
first term in office and is hoping to win another term in the upcoming
elections on November 6. In previous debates, Obama and his team have spoken
with great pride of their foreign policy accomplishments over the past four
years of rule. They specifically pointed out as a major triumph three
landmark events: The withdrawal from Iraq; The killing of Al-Qaeda leader
Ousama bin Laden; and assisting the Libyan revolution in overthrowing the
late leader Moammar Qaddafi. The main point in common in all these
"accomplishments" is that they are all located geographically within the
Greater Middle East region. However, if one is to review the foreign policy
performance of the Obama administration from the perspective of America's
Middle Eastern allies one will find little if any achievements to brag
about.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-nFoX3u_8Ru8/TnATK1B6eNI/AAAAAAAAAhY/DXAt1
BHYjYM/s300/Middle_East_%2528orthographic_projection%2529.svg.pngIn order to
appreciate the regional perspective it is important to identify the foreign
policy priorities of America's allies in the region. The current U.S. main
allies in the region are Jordan, Morocco and the Arab Gulf States better
known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and they include Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. For these
states, the main concerns or sources of threat are as follows: Iran, the
Muslim Brotherhood that was empowered by the so-called Arab Spring and
terrorism. Working efficiently with allies requires seeing eye-to-eye with
them on matters of mutual concern. However, being the stronger party in this
partnership the U.S. often gets to lead in initiating and implementing
policies in the region that ultimately affects its allies one way or
another. So how did the Obama Administration pursue its policies in the
above matters of concern to its regional allies?
Iran
From a Middle Eastern perspective, Iran has grown stronger over the past
four years. Very few Arab leaders believed Western economic sanctions and
diplomacy would be enough to sway Tehran from pursuing its nuclear
ambitions, and the latest facts indicate that Iran's nuclear program
continues to make progress unabated by toughened sanctions by Washington and
the EU. Furthermore, Tehran's influence in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan has
increased considerably which undermines Arab-Western interests in these
countries. The revolution in Syria, which is seen by most America's allies
in the region as a golden opportunity to destroy the Iranian axis by helping
the rebels topple the Syrian regime - Tehran's main ally in the region - has
not received serious tangible Western assistance. Arab officials have
watched with a great deal of anger and disappointment as the U.S. stood
helpless as the United Nations Security Council was unable to pass any
resolutions against the Syrian regime and also refused to provide the rebels
with any weapons at a time Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah have
provided the Syrian regime with men and weapons to counter the insurgency.
Most GCC States have rejected the U.S. reasons for not providing military
aid to the insurgents out of fear they could fall in hands of Islamist
terrorists, and have started their own arms supplies network to help the
rebels. The GCC have accused Iran of interfering in the internal affairs of
Bahrain and Yemen and pursued their own policies there independent of
Washington due to concern that the U.S. was chasing what one Gulf official
described as "counter-productive policies."
The Arab Spring and the Brotherhood
The spate of public uprisings that have swept the Arab world for two years
now and toppled dictatorships in countries like Tunis, Egypt, Libya and
Yemen and forced reforms in places like Morocco and Jordan, have come to be
known as the Arab Spring. With the exception of Libya, the other countries
affected by these revolutions were all regarded as strong U.S. allies.
Rising regimes there have been mostly led by Islamic parties associated with
the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that denounces monarchy and promotes a
democracy-style political system under Sharia Law. The sudden strong rise of
the Muslim Brotherhood after decades of suppression led by regimes in Egypt
and Syria has sent shockwaves throughout the Arab world. The GCC, Jordan and
Morocco have gone on the defensive trying to squeeze back against the Muslim
Brotherhood. The sight of the U.S. Administration opening channels of
communication with the new governments in Tunis and Cairo have caused
concern amongst GCC leaders who worry that Washington would turn its eye
away from what the Arab monarchies perceive as an imminent serious threat to
their rule posed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Officials in UAE, Qatar and
Saudi Arabia have voiced public concerns of the Muslim Brotherhood and the
chief of Police in Dubai General Dhahi Khalfan has even considered the
movement to be a bigger threat to GCC than Iran.
Terrorism
Even though Bin Laden was dead, terrorist attacks continued and areas of
Al-Qaeda operations have widened and become entrenched on the Arabian
Peninsula, especially in Yemen and the Horne of Africa. Groups affiliated
with Al-Qaeda continue to be active in places like Iraq, Yemen, Egypt,
Somalia and most recently in the Sahara area in Africa. U.S. allies in the
Middle East believe the war on terrorism has many loop holes, especially its
inability to deal with issues related to the causes of terrorism. They
believe the pure military approach by carrying out drone strikes on targets
throughout the Greater Middle East without engaging issues like the
Palestinian-Israeli struggle and acute socio-economic conditions in many
parts of the region will only exasperate the problem, and will have short
term tactical gains without substantial strategic impact in the war on
terrorism. With the Arab Spring causing instability and failed states in
various parts of the Middle East, many U.S. allies in the region fear there
will be a rise and wider spread in terrorism despite the killing of top
leaders of Al-Qaeda.
Election-Centric Foreign Policy
Regardless of the causes of all the problems in the Middle East and who is
right or wrong, the fact remains that most U.S. allies in the region believe
Washington's foreign policy is failing on many fronts. Even matters that
were traditionally a high priority in U.S. foreign policy like the Middle
East peace process, has not seen any tangible activity under the Obama
Administration, especially over the past two years. The main criticism to
the U.S. foreign policy in general and to the Obama Administration in
particular has been that it is too election-centric. It has been all about
playing it safe in order to keep the voters contempt regardless of the
possible long-term negative strategic impact the current policies could have
on the interests of the U.S. and/or its allies in the region. The situation
becomes worse when the U.S. allies in the region find themselves locked in a
fierce cold war against a formidable cunning adversary like Iran that
pursues long-term strategic objectives with an aggressive expansionist
approach that has managed to spread its influence to various parts of the
region and wants to assert itself as a global power.
The U.S. is increasingly being perceived as an unreliable ally. Its regional
allies remained close to it simply because they have no viable alternative
to Washington at the moment. Moreover, the U.S. has been lucky thus far in
managing to maintain many of its regional interests. But with its recent
passive policies and short-term-based policies aimed at making enough safe
gains until the next primaries or next presidential elections, risks are
increasing to US regional interests more than ever due to the fast changes
in the Greater Middle East. New realities are emerging in a highly dynamic
political scene in the Arab world making most of yesterday's policies
redundant. Hence a more solid long-term foreign policy that takes into
consideration America's mutual interests with its regional allies is
required to ensure the U.S. role as a world super power - that is if
Washington still wants to play this role. The US did not become the super
power it is today by short-term election-centric policies taken by former
presidents. America's foreign allies long for leaders like Roosevelt,
Eisenhower, Carter and Reagan who based their decisions on long-term
strategic objectives. Time does not pause for leaders to allow them better
their electoral chances for history is made every day and the late ones are
left behind.
Riad Kahwaji, CEO, INEGMA
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Received on Mon Oct 29 2012 - 19:56:25 EDT
