[lit-ideas] There's nothing like a coherent foreign policy
- From: "Julie Krueger" <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:42:59 -0500
(and this is nothing like a coherent foreign policy....)
<<WASHINGTON - Americans are hearing much less from the Bush administration
about democracy for the Middle
East<http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0323/p09s02-coop.html>than they did
a year ago. As Shiite Iran rises, the White House has muted
its calls for reform in the region as it redirects policy to reembrace Sunni
Arab allies – who run, to varying degrees, authoritarian regimes.
The invasion of Iraq in 2003 shifted the balance of power in the Middle
East, delivering a Shiite-led government to a country that had for decades
been dominated by its minority Sunnis. That, in turn, opened the door to
Iranian expansion.
To contain Tehran, Washington is now reaching out to Saudi Arabia, other
Gulf states, Egypt, and Jordan, in the form of large arms deals and new
talks on such issues as the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict<http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0914/p09s01-coop.html>,
which in the eyes of most Arabs and many others remains the greatest source
of tension – and extremist support – in the region.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels again to the region next week,
underscoring the administration's drive for progress on Middle East peace.
Also, a significant US shift toward Iraq is under way. American policy is
moving from bolstering the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as a
way to force action on political issues to a "bottom-up" approach. This has
led to the funding and arming of Sunni tribes and communities in Anbar
Province that until recently targeted US forces.
"If you look at it in the context of this Sunni-Shia sectarian
divide<http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0117/p25s01-wome.html>and the
fault line that divides the region, we are in effect adjusting our
position," says Martin Indyk, a former US diplomat now at the Brookings
Institution in Washington, referring to the broader implications of the new
American path in Iraq.
Having paved the way for Iraq's Shiites to take power, he says, "We find
ourselves in a situation where that plays to Iran's advantage and to the
disadvantage of our erstwhile Sunni Arab allies in the Arab world."
The result of this belated realization, Mr. Indyk says, is that "we are
adjusting ourselves to the point where we line up with the Sunnis against
the Shias in this broader sectarian divide.">>
More at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1009/p01s01-usfp.html
Julie Krueger
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