The Art of Mending Fences

President Barack Obama is not Napoleon Bonaparte, and certainly we are a long way from 200 years ago since a world leader attempted to bridge the fragile divide between the Western and Muslim worlds. Erroneously, too many people equate our side of the street (the West that is) as anti-Islamic, anything from our touting democratic institutions, to the young girls in bikinis roaming the streets in any city you can think of. The divide is certainly cultural, but you will be hard pressed to find one person who can accurately distinguish between the cultural and ideological differences. For that reason, the reputation of Western nations in Muslim countries hasn’t been the best. And just before you dump all the blame on former president Bush, the mess was created long before he showed up.
The point here is, how we got into the rift is no so much the important story as how we get out of it. Yes I am a strong proponent of identifying the source of any problem, only then do you assess the best course of action for a resolution. This problem is slightly different, mostly a chicken and the egg scenario, with no side claiming the blame as the instigator.

(Enter Barack Obama)
Tomorrow morning the President will speak at Cairo University in Egypt, but you can bet that his intended audience will be far more than the hundreds of people who will remember the day as the turning point in intercultural relations. Of course every Muslim will take a moment to hear what the leader of the free world has to say, in a highly anticipated speech. No chances for error. It wouldn’t take rocket science to guess that President Obama will be careful to walk a fine line between cajoling and pandering. Too much sweet talk will aggravate half of the world, certainly Israel and the many people around the world who still think that somehow the world can move on without international harmony. Of course, his very presence in Egypt and his intent speaks volumes without him uttering a word. All he has to do is to put the finishing touches to what he began several months ago when he granted his first interview to a Muslim TV network.

Don’t be deceived by the apparent reception however. President Obama will get his usual standing ovations, mostly from people who can’t tell the difference between him and Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen or any other rock star. The task of ‘mending fences’ entails a little more than stopping by Home Depot on this one.
The post 9/11 anti-American sentiment (apparently stemming out of the Iraq blunder), the Afghanistan drama, Pakistan deadlock, not to mention the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib scandals , are all lingering issues waiting to be addressed head-on. Even more gripping will be any word (or words) that potentially insinuate his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Ultimately Obama promised to restore America’s image around the world, and I think so far he has showed the world that he meant what he said. The very fact that his story is unique makes him less suspicious. Let’s face it, no one in Egypt will be jumping around the block for Obama if his rock star image didn’t ignite the Europeans at the G20 Summit. You clearly recall that going into the summit, Angela Merkel (Germany) and Nicolas Sarkozy (France) swore up and down that they would not budge to the Obama’s mystique. Two days later they signed over their country’s budget to him.
I am not suggesting that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran) will be softening his nuclear stance anytime after tomorrow, but maybe the Obama game plan is to turn enough of the Middle East and Muslim world into moderate pragmatic citizens, so much that they will in turn shun the antics and divisive tactics of people like Ahmadinejad.
I know you are dying to tell me that ‘talk is cheap’. Yes I know, but if it was so cheap why didn’t anyone else try it before Obama.
Give credit where credit is due and let Obama continue on his cleanup campaign. I am neither Republican nor Democrat, but in the interest of national security if Obama can reach the quasi-Bin Laden wannabes who are confused and misdirected by showing respect and telling them the truth, I say more power to him. You will be naïve (even stupid if I can be blunt) to assume that President Obama will roll into Egypt and stun them, walk out and everything will be kosher. If it was that simple, Napoleon Bonaparte would have pulled it off.

I am tired of the deduction that by Obama not stopping in Israel on his trip, we should be reading into it as a clandestine move to sideline Israel. Give me a break. Why can’t the rest of us clueless bunch just take life for what it is and instead of making something out of nothing? The last time Obama was in Israel, he didn’t make a stop in Egypt, no where in Africa or Asia, I didn’t hear anyone bugging.Showing respect to the Muslim world does not in any way translate into dissing Israel.
Get a grip.
Back my point (before I deviated), Obama has one chance to pull this off. This is a foreign policy ‘Game 7’ for him, with over 1.5 billion Muslims paying attention; he either win their hearts or lose it forever. Mending fences will start with telling the truth, with respect and unequivocably. All Obama can do is build his side of the fence, and wait to the Muslim world to extend the courtesy by returning the favor. There is this popular sentiment that the Arab world is largely anti-Bush, thus the assumption that all President Obama needs to do is to stand tall, look pretty and smile. I think it will take a lot more than that, but either way, the first step to any conflict resolution is jumpstarting the dialogue. That is precisely what Obama will do in the next few hours.
Just a random thought, anyway.