Posted on 10/12/2003 11:18:56 AM PDT by padfoot_lover
A government-sponsored panel says the United States must dramatically transform its negative image in the Arab and Muslim world to better meet the dangerous challenges of extremism.
The bleak state of our relations with the Middle East was underlined by the 13-member U.S. Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in its report titled "Changing Minds/ Winning Peace," with a subtitle that sums up the report: "A new strategic direction for U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World."
The study has come at a critical time, with tensions escalating in the Middle East and the cycle of violence taking another spiral downward. Like similar past studies, this report will gather dust unless President Bush plays a more even-handed role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Such a move would require courage for any politician but it would transform him or her into a world-class statesman.
A recent suggestion by Democratic presidential aspirant Howard Dean that the United States be even-handed in the Middle East caused an uproar with the other Democratic White House candidates.
But if the United States is to regain its respected status in the Arab World, Washington must change its one-sided policy, which has embedded deep bitterness among Arabs.
Long before the president had to deal with 9/11 terrorism, there was an Arab-Israeli dispute and three wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973, which ended in Israeli victories, with strong American support.
More recently, the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq are widely interpreted in the Middle East as anti-Muslim and have further enraged Arab sentiment.
But the public diplomacy study, chaired by veteran diplomat Edward P. Djerejian, the founding director of the James Baker III Institute at Rice University, will go nowhere if Bush continues his program of unrelenting favoritism toward Israel.
"Surveys show much of the resentment toward America stems from our policies," the panel said, referring to the Arab-Israeli conflict as the main point of contention.
When they visited Egypt, Syria, Turkey, France, Morocco and Senegal, panel members said they were struck by the depth of "opposition to our policies." They found citizens of those countries were "genuinely distressed at the plight of the Palestinians and the role they perceive the United States to be playing."
But the advisory group made no recommendations for a change in policy, explaining that its mandate was limited to issues of public diplomacy.
The report quotes the Pew Research Center's polling survey of last June to the effect that hostility against the United States has reached "shocking levels" in the Middle East.
Other panel members included David Abshire, former U.S. ambassador to NATO; Stephen P. Cohen, president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development and a former professor of Near Eastern Studies at Harvard and Princeton; Farhad Kazemi, professor of politics at New York University and John Zogby, president and CEO of Zogby International, a polling firm.
Their report said the United States had "unilaterally disarmed" its public relations weapons in the aftermath of the Cold War, referring to the U.S. Information Agency and government sponsorship of libraries and culture centers abroad.
The panel recommended a reversal of that trend. In addition to increasing student and leadership exchanges, it also urged that more diplomats be taught Arabic and that thousands of American books be translated into Arabic.
The panel also said U.S.-sponsored broadcast organizations in the Middle East should be bolstered to compete with al-Jazeera, the Arabic TV network, and other Arabic outlets.
The panelists said they "saw one of our worst nightmares" in a visit to the miserable slums of Casablanca, where homes lacked plumbing but had hand-wired satellite TV dishes.
According to the report, Arabs and Muslims have a ton of media-supplied information and opinion about the United States, "much of it distorted by journalists and propagandists hostile to America."
The advisory group dropped the problem in the lap of President Bush, saying:
"The president, in every word, whether addressed to domestic or international audiences, is the most important voice influencing attitudes toward the United States or abroad."
The panelists also called for creation of a new White House office to coordinate government efforts aimed at changing Middle Eastern attitudes toward Americans.
Arabs and Muslims support our values but "believe our policies do not live up to them," the report said.
The panel acknowledged the limitations of public diplomacy, noting that "spin and manipulative public relations and propaganda are not the answer. Foreign policy counts."
Those in the Muslim world know the difference. But does the president?
Thomas is a Washington, D.C.-based columnist for the Hearst Newspapers. hthomas@hearstdc.com
I just know somebody more cruel is gonna torture us by posting the hag's picture.....
Which twin is the hag??
Quick, clean your eyeballs by clicking HERE
;-)
Alternative universe paragraph: A government-sponored panel says the Middle East must dramatically transform its negative image in the rest of the world to better meet the necessary challenges of modernity.
The bleak state of our relations with the Middle East was underlined by the 13-member U.S. Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy in its report titled "Changing Minds/ Winning Peace," with a subtitle that sums up the report: "A new strategic direction for U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim World."
Alternative universe paragraph: The bleak state of the Middle Easts relations with the rest of the world has been underlined by everything they have done for the last millennium. Advisory groups and reports are not necessary to determine this, no matter what the names/titles of groups/reports.
The study has come at a critical time, with tensions escalating in the Middle East and the cycle of violence taking another spiral downward. Like similar past studies, this report will gather dust unless President Bush plays a more even-handed role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Such a move would require courage for any politician but it would transform him or her into a world-class statesman.
Alternative universe paragraph: Studies discussing this phenomenon cannot be critically timed because the barbarity of the Arab/Muslim world has been a permanent fixture. As such, reports outlining the obvious problems of a backwards civilization generally deserve to gather dust, as would a study stating that the sky is blue. Arabs need to play a more even-handed role in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Such a move, however, would require tolerance of terminally intolerant Arabs and transform them into civilized human beings.
A recent suggestion by Democratic presidential aspirant Howard Dean that the United States be even-handed in the Middle East caused an uproar with the other Democratic White House candidates.
Alternative universe paragraph: Recent suggestions by Middle East experts state that Arab/Muslim governments need to even-handed in the Middle East. This always causes an uproar with irresponsible, intellectually adolescent anti-American liberals, who believe that the U.S. is the source of all evil in the world.
But if the United States is to regain its respected status in the Arab World, Washington must change its one-sided policy, which has embedded deep bitterness among Arabs.
Alternative universe paragraph: The United States can never gain the admiration of the Middle East because it is not a primarily Muslim nation (European nations fool themselves into believing they are respected; in truth they are useful idiots in the Arab worlds racist hatred of non-Arabs). The Arabs must change their one-sided policies, which has embedded deep distrust among Americans and Jews.
Blah. Blah. Blah. There are two sides to the coin, and Arabs/Muslims have not held up their end of the bargain. End of discussion.
Actually, a lot of us Americans think the Arabs better change their image with us, ... or else...
But if the United States is to regain its respected status in the Arab World
Hmmm, how does one regain that which never has existed.
Are ALL Arabs delusional?
Do they REALLY believe they will succeed in eliminating all Jews and Christians from the "Holy Land"?
I for one, don't care for their "respect"...
I want them to acknowledge that they realize that their continued terrorist behavior can/will result in the destruction...
If the Arab world desires "respect", I would suggest that they get their lunatic fringe under control.....or we will..
The "hard way"...
Semper Fi
I want them to think of as those guys who will bend over backward to help a decent person ,but also as those guys who will stomp yur butt into total oblivion if you mess with us.
NOBODY respects a pansy.
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