Barack Obama, A New Undertone

America’s new President can’t solve all the concrete problems of the Arab world with nice words alone. But, it won’t hurt to try building new bridges to the Muslim world.

Obama’s first interview as President took place on the Arab television network al-Arabiya. In keeping with Obama’s style, this gesture was also highly symbolic. He offered the Muslim world a new partnership based on mutual respect.

Neither his words nor the network on which Obama chose to say them are in and of themselves revolutionary. His predecessor, George W. Bush, gave basically the same speech on the same network and it brought no noticeable change whatsoever in America’s relations with the Arab world. But, this interview took place in a totally different context: Bush, who had invaded Iraq, appealed to the Muslim world at a time when there was practically nothing left to salvage between them. The reason for the Bush interview was the torture that had taken place at Abu Ghraib for which Bush felt obliged to apologize. Regardless of his words, Bush was unable to fulfill the role of effective conciliator.

Obama isn’t encumbered like that and had a real chance to give a more harmonious and cooperative undertone to future relations with the Arab world. In this, he succeeded masterfully.

Whether or not such a blatant feel-good approach to Middle East problems will work and whether or not it will impress Iran remain completely open questions. Symbolic gestures say little about how Obama will behave when he’s faced with tough decisions. He affirmed America’s solidarity with Israel, even if the affirmation was cushioned in cotton batting, and he promised to use all of America’s power, including diplomacy, in relations with Iran. That doesn’t exclude military force. America’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, had already announced that the U.S. would increase pressure on Iran unless it ceased its uranium enrichment program.

In Europe, all this seems to have left the illusion that all the problems in the region caused by the insensible and ideologically blinded cowboy from Texas have been overcome and can now be healed by a new American image. But, the background shows a different picture: the al-Qaeda terror network came about because of a reaction to the splendid relations between the United States and the decadent House of Saud. Iran was dabbling in atomic weapons before the Bush era, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been going on for more than a half-century.

In regards to these conflicts, Obama can currently add only a stronger willingness to become involved and his, at least up until now, unblemished moral authority. His toolkit doesn’t have much more in it than his predecessor’s. Obama has the same tools at his disposal – but he’s using them more effectively. But, the time will come when things start becoming more serious and that is when we will see whether this interview was a meaningful signal or not.