12/07/2009

Arab disappointment with Obama

Posted by Andrew |

At the following link is a great blog post by one of my favorite contemporary scholars of the Middle East, Marc Lynch, of George Washington University.

He examines the "Arab disappointment with Obama" and takes a few pot shots at SAIS' Fouad Ajami, who is one of my least favorite contemporary "scholars" of the Middle East.

Excerpts below:

Ajami does not need "evidence" for he knows how Arabs feel, the patterns of the desert and the timeless tribal traditions, the hot arid summer which follows the blooming spring but leads inexorably to the fall and then the cold, hard winter. He has anonymous Saudi drinking buddies. One should not argue.
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And good for him. It's not like the Bush administration's support for democracy actually created much democracy, after all. Instead, it raised expectations which were quickly dashed as the U.S. failed to follow through on its rhetoric (sound familiar?).
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They are right about one thing, though: Arab public opinion is disappointed with Obama. But it isn't because he hasn't lived up to his predecessor's commitment to democracy and reform.

1 comments:

Bruce Kratky said...

President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech was interesting. There is a comment after the Lynch article which talks about the differences between the Bush and Obama approaches to the Middle East as a difference of "degree and not kind." In the light of Mr. Obama's speech this truth is easily seen. Though some are sad about this Mr. Obama outlined a balanced view of the world through what most historians would consider a valid historical perspective. The far left of the Democratic Party does see the world through Ghandian and Kingian prisms where those over arching philosophies dominate all discourse and direct all actions. Though admirable to the extreme one can not forget that before and after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated violent elements were emerging in the civil rights movement. We must also remember that after the assassination of Ghandi millions died in violence as Pakistan was born. It was born through bloodshed no embraces. In point of fact these two men themselves were victims of the violence they so deplored. When not everyone "believes" then those that do believe die if they are too idealistic.

I was encouraged by Mr. Obama's speech. I feel that the Arab and Islamic world needs to see that we do believe in our hearts that the world as Ghandi and King saw it is the one we would wish to live in. At the same time we do not forget their murder, the murder of six million Jews, thirty million Russians, two million Chinese Christians, hundreds of thousands of Roma, millions of Poles, Cambodians, Darfurians, mentally impaired, homosexuals, thousands of Kosovars... and the list goes on. The talk of destroying Israel by force, to speak the word extermination, sets the dreams of peace loving people (both left and right) back decades if not more. It reminds them that they live in a dangerous world where there are many wonderful men and women, who are so gentle they can not survive amongst wolves. The wolves still prowl and must be guarded against. That Mr. Obama is willing to stand guard, as a "Man of Peace", and violently defend the peaceful encourages many.

Yet, I can not help but suffer great cynicism regarding the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Mr. Carter (no evidence that he has brought peace through his policy advocacy), Mr. Gore (no evidence that his take on global warming is honest, his personal life being hypocritical in so many areas, ie. personal carbon footprint), and Mr. Obama (nothing yet achieved). There was a comment by a University of Minnesota sophomore undergrad that said, "I wish I could be given my bachelor's degree now and work for it later." Who in Tibet, China, Darfur, Iraq, Iran is now suffering in prison for their mighty efforts to bring love, peace, hope, and truth to their nations, to their oppressed, their vulnerable, and who "Really Deserve" this award? Shame on the Nobel Committee. Shame.

7:39 PM  

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