By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star
STORY SUMMARY
Much of the discussion in the U.S. about President Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East next week centers around whether he will initiate any new diplomatic moves on Arab-Israeli peacemaking, and what he might say about Iran and the continuing Arab uprisings.
Disapproval of U.S. policies is not a peculiarly Arab or Middle Eastern problem, but a worldwide phenomenon.
The U.S. has not mastered the diplomatic craft of shaping policies that acknowledge the core interests of all concerned, and that thus could lead to win-win outcomes.
In recent years – and the self-congratulatory moralistic bombast has not changed appreciably from one American administration to another – the U.S. has tended to use rhetoric to emphasize its own values and interests, which it affirms through disproportionate use of militarism and aggressive diplomacy.
However, U.S. foreign policies often contradict those stated values.
In my next column I will analyze whether U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East in recent decades has contributed to these complex conditions that define the Middle East today.
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Americas, United States