THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 213, November 13, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
EXPERT CALLS U.S. POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST "FLAWED":
A REPORT ON MARTIN KRAMER'S BRIEFING:
"AMERICA'S FLAWED IDEAS IN THE MIDDLE EAST"
By Jared Shelly
UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: FAILURE OF THE U.S.A. TO SECURE GENUINE PEACE IN THE
MIDDLE EAST VIA TRANSFORMATION OF GOVERNMENT'S IN THE REGION INTO CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACIES --
AMERICA IN SEARCH OF A DEFINITIVE MIDDLE EASTERN POLICY -- WHICH ROAD SHOULD THE U.S.A. TAKE?
APPEASEMENT, STAYING ON THE OFFENSIVE, OR NEITHER?
FULL STORY:
The idea of promoting peace in the Middle East by transforming governments into constitutional democracies has
unquestionably failed, according to one foreign-policy expert, leaving the United States searching for a definitive policy
in one of the most volatile regions of the world.
"This has left us at one of those rare moments when the playing field is suddenly made level for the competition of new
big ideas," said Martin Kramer, a fellow at both the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Harvard University,
during a lecture held at the Union League of Philadelphia.
Sponsored by the Middle East Forum, Kramer's October 29, 2007, talk, titled "America's Flawed Ideas in the Middle East,"
examined two theories being discussed in Washington about U.S. policy, both of which he finds misguided. One idea
being kicked around, he said, is called "engagement" -- a theory that abandons the idea of militarily transforming the
Middle East, and that would necessitate a scaling back of U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The Middle East has its problems, but everything we do just makes it worse," said Kramer, outlining the engagement
option to an audience of about 150 people. This would mean that "we must get ourselves back over the horizon and as
much out of the Arab line of sight as possible."
He also said that those touting the engagement plan paint themselves as "realists" who admit American failure in the
region; however, he argued, the plan actually "oozes optimism" by hoping that Islamists will change their political
posture.
"Just as you couldn't turn Yasser Arafat into a man of peace
-- even with a Nobel Peace Prize ceremony -- and just as you
couldn't turn Iraqis into democratic citizens -- even when their
fingers turn purple -- you can't turn Syria, Hamas and
Hezbollah into our partners by sitting down with them."
The engagement plan, he remarked, "looks, feels and smells like appeasement."
The other notion that some policy-makers hope will guide American thinking in the Mideast, he added, is the idea of
"staying on the offensive."
Proponents of this idea contend, according to Kramer, that the September 11, 2001, Islamist attacks have not been
repeated because of U.S. military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. If America doesn't defeat them there, these folks
argue, the Islamists will strike again here in the U.S.A.
If the United States were to leave Iraq now, "our enemies will control it ... uncertainty will grow, terrorists will be
emboldened, and oil prices will skyrocket," he said, echoing the sentiments of proponents of the plan.
But Kramer doesn't fully agree with staying on the offensive either, mostly because it hinges on the transformation of
these troublesome regimes into working constitutional democracies.
He would rather see systems in place that would allow everyday people the right to express themselves politically.
"Without that," he said, "the only result that one can expect from a democratic vote is the election of terror regimes like
Hamas and Hezbollah."
Earlier in his talk, Kramer said that America should, perhaps, look at how the region was ruled by the British, French and
Ottomans throughout history.
"Rule lightly, unless provoked; delegate power and don't tamper with local customs," he suggested.
"Using these rules, great empires dominated the Middle East
for centuries. Our problem, though, is that we don't see
ourselves as a great empire, and we don't want to rule anyone
directly. We just want to transform them thoroughly."
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
Tunisia, Islamic North Africa, & the Arab World
The Middle East & the Problem of Syria
The Middle East -- Lebanon as a Geopolitical Problem
Turkey, the Middle East, & the U.S.A.
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
American Foreign Policy -- Constitutional Democracy:
U.S. Promotion of Constitutional Democracy in Foreign Countries
Martin Kramer is the author or editor of eight books, including the important Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle
East Studies in America (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001). He was the Editor of the Middle East Forum's
journal, the Middle East Quarterly, in 2001-2004. Formerly Director of the Dayan Center for Middle East Studies at
Tel-Aviv University, he is presently the Olin Institute Senior Fellow at Harvard University, the Wexler-Fromer Fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the Adelson Institute Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He is Senior
Middle East Advisor to the 2008 presidential campaign of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Kramer addressed
the Middle East Forum on October 29, 2007, presenting the briefing, "America's Flawed Ideas in the Middle East."
Jared Shelly is a staff writer and reporter for the Jewish Exponent, a weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The foregoing article by Jared Shelly was originally published in the Jewish Exponent, November 8, 2007, and can be
found on the Internet website
maintained by the Middle East Forum, a think tank which seeks to define and
promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam, working for
Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote constitutional
democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly asserting U.S.
interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
November 11, 2007
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