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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 2, January 02-January 15, 2009

Obama's Middle East Predicaments

Barack Obama's lack of response to the Gaza’s situation has prompted Ahmed Shihab-Eldin of the Huffington Post to point out that his reticence on the matter will be perceived as his being "apathetic to Arab concerns and steadfast in his support for Israel." In contrast, President-elect Obama was quite vocal about his opinions on the attacks in Mumbai and the current economic crisis, he added.

Mr. Shihab-Eldin believes that Mr. Obama’s lack of criticism of Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s schools and other nonmilitary targets is dangerous. "Indignation is running rampant on the Arab street…As anger and resentment builds in the streets and in Arab parliaments, opposition groups, such as Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood…are positioned to gain power," remarks Shihab-Eldin.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Obama team has asserted its one-president-at-a-time policy. However, "deafening silence from the Obama team," as Al-Jazeera has called it, has caused pundits in the Middle East to note that "[the Arab publics] look at his silence as a negative sign. They think he is condoning what happened in Gaza because he’s not expressing any opinion."

While most in the Arab-Muslim world have expressed disappointment at Mr. Obama’s tepid response, others think that he is in a no-win situation. "If he talks against the Palestinians he will lose any chance before he has even started," said Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebanon. "And if he talks against the Israelis, this will not help him."

Even though many are looking for hints of how Mr. Obama will stand on the Arab-Israeli conflict, reports the Inter Press Service (IPS), no one will really know until after January 20th.

University of Maryland political scientist Shibley Telhami supports the Obama team’s ambiguity regarding the Gaza crisis. "The president is not going to have a second chance to make a first impression. If you say something about this crisis first thing…then you’re tying your hands in a way that’s consequential. I think it’s a big mistake for him to intervene in this crisis," asserts Telhami.

Raja Kamal, associate dean at the Harris School for Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago, opines in Lebanon’s Daily Star that Mr. Obama’s policies in the Middle East must be more nuanced and not be "one size fits all." Each country in the area has its own set of challenges and cultural mores.

Mr. Kamal points out that some Arab countries provide "cosmetic and symbolic" reforms to appease the global community, who remain critical of their deficiencies in human rights and education and lack of economic development. However, the US must also improve its moral standing in the world before undertaking any policy changes in the area, he continues.

According to Mr. Kamal, education is a particular weak spot in the Middle East and the Obama administration must stress educational reforms as a priority.

In addition to this slate of pressing issues that Mr. Obama must tackle in the Arab region, the president-elect must confront the challenges of the Iraq war. Eric Stoner, a contributor to Foreign Policy in Focus, writes that Mr. Obama has spoken a great deal on how to proceed with the Iraq question, but has expressed little consideration for Iraqi public opinion. A March 2008 Iraqi poll indicates that a vast majority believe that US troops should leave, with "27% [saying that] the US military presence was making overall security better in their country."

Mr. Stoner suggests that as Mr. Obama strategizes policies for Iraq with members of his administration, it would behoove him to consider the desires of the Iraqi people.