More Realpolitik Than Vision

Barack Obama’s speech was his attempt to attach something that looked like a strategy to the “Arab Spring” dreams of a flowering democracy.

Change is accompanied by hope, Obama tells the skeptical status quo faction, the House of Saud as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lost a reliable ally in Hosni Mubarak and now fears the ascendance of the Muslim Brotherhood. Because of its history, Obama places America precisely where it belongs: on the side of the people who risk everything for their rights.

But to launch such a bold vision — something like a new Marshall Plan — must be “Mission Impossible.” In practical politics, Obama makes decisions on a case-by-case basis, pragmatically and completely contradictorily. Saudi troops can strangle the Bahrain freedom movement without fear of much criticism from Washington. He demands Libya’s Gadhafi step down, but lets Syria’s Assad do whatever he likes.

This isn’t an aimless course but rather sober realpolitik, acknowledging that America should not and cannot continue to serve as the world’s policeman. The master orator tried to bring a modicum of order to the cacophony, but the USA can’t really influence events in the Middle East.