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The Layalina Review

VOL. V NO. 6, February 27-March 12, 2009

President Obama’s Conundrum

The Huffington Post writes, “The revitalization of American diplomacy and power has begun.” While some have high hopes for the new government, others doubt that real change will actually take place, and still others do not think that extremely bold policies should be implemented.

As reported by The New York Times, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently visited the Middle East in a first move towards establishing better relations with the region. In terms of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Secretary Clinton advocated a “two-state solution anchored by broad regional peace,” as well as “strong American support for the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.”

The Obama administration is also re-examining America’s current relationship with Syria with Secretary Clinton announcing “diplomatic re-engagement” with the country. According to an editorial in The New York Times, former president George W. Bush made a mistake by pushing Syria away from the US and sending the country into the arms of Iran. One step that President Obama is taking towards reconciling this relationship, The Daily Beast reports, is sending not one, but two envoys to Syria. The Huffington Post adds that “detaching Syria from Iran would further help weaken the revolutionary power of the Iranian revolution.”

In Democracy Arsenal, Ilan Goldenberg turns to the issue of Iraq. Obama’s recent speech on the future of US involvement in Iraq was not an easy one to give, as he had to guarantee Iraqis that the US is indeed pulling combat troops out of the country, but not abandoning it during its reconstruction. He also had to clarify to the rest of the world that America’s foreign policy will no longer be “Iraq-centric.”

According to Goldenberg, Obama’s speech regarding Iraq was “more than just the beginning of the end of the war.” It also described the administration’s foreign policy as a whole. Goldenberg writes, “The speech demonstrates that on issues of foreign policy, communication is vital.” In addition, Obama’s plans for Iraq reflect his broader foreign policies. He is not simply focusing on the military aspect, but on “political reconciliation and diplomatic engagement with Iraq’s neighbors.”

Nevertheless, skepticism abounds. For example, James Abourezk of Counter Punch does not believe that meetings between American Secretaries of State and the Israeli leadership or Mahmoud Abbas will bring about any real progress.

Others, such as Leslie Gelb of The Daily Beast, do not think that the new government should propose drastic foreign policy changes, or at least not immediately. Gelb writes, “It’s certainly a bad practice to constantly fill the international airwaves with bold new initiatives, new thinking and commentary.”

According to Gelb, the “constant flood of big ideas” is bothersome because it reveals that Obama is self-confident enough to think that he “can make decisions on the most complicated of issues after only hours of discussion.”

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