Ten Principles for US Policy in the Middle East

WASHINGTON, DC -- Discussions of US policy in the Middle East mostly focus on Iraq and Iran these days. Yet Americans who follow their country's Middle East policy ask about their posture throughout the region. The question comes up regularly in discussions on the Middle East here in Washington and in other parts of the United States: What should the US do differently in the Middle East? I've discussed this often with colleagues and friends here in recent months, generating my list of ten principles and policies that I believe should define American policies in the Middle East:

1. Politically engage all legitimate actors: The American tendency to boycott or try and destroy major players in the region, like Hizbullah and Hamas, is childish and counter-productive. All those whom the United States has held at arm's length have tended to become stronger in the region -- partly by garnering public support for defying and resisting the United States.

Legitimacy should be the main criterion for engaging major players in the region, and legitimacy should be defined as emanating from two sources: validation from the people in the Middle East (especially through elections), and adherence to international norms and standards. Where a locally legitimate and powerful player comes up short on one of these (such as Hamas' occasional terror bombs in Israel) the response should be to bring them into a process that leads to their stopping such deeds and achieving their legitimate goals peacefully, as the United States, United Kingdom and others did with the IRA in Northern Ireland so deftly.

2. Seek peace, security and prosperity for all according to a single standard: Foreign powers in the Middle East must give Arabs, Israelis, Iranians and Turks fully equal weight in terms of their rights and interests, rather than giving some countries priority or even exclusivity in areas like security, nuclear technology, etc.

3. Use multilateral engagement mechanisms more than unilateral military means or threats: The UN and its agencies offer useful, legitimate and effective mechanisms to address contentious issues if they are used regularly, and not whimsically or opportunistically.

4. Be consistent on core issues across the region: Double-standards in enforcing UN resolutions or international conventions, or promoting freedom and democracy, badly erode American credibility, respect and efficacy, severely curtailing US impact and influence over time.

5. Appeal to the majority of average people rather than focusing on the minority of extremists: A core and consistent mistake that has driven Washington's policy since 9/11 has been its tendency to respond mainly to the threat of attacks by Al-Qaeda and other such fringe terror groups. A much more productive approach would be dynamic engagement with the legitimate concerns and rights of the vast majority of average men and women in the Middle East who share American core values of justice and good governance.

6. Define and pursue American national interests -- not those of narrow lobbies for Israel, arms traders, oil companies, Arab autocrats or extremist Christian fundamentalists. In particular, the severe tilt in favor of Israel in the past three decades has badly hobbled American policy in the region, and reflects a weakness in the American democratic system as it pertains to foreign policy. Narrow lobbies can heavily influence foreign policy in Washington to the point where America's foreign policy often hurts rather than helps achieve US national interests. Foreign policy by lobby pressures is a juvenile and counterproductive way to behave.

7. Pursue active, sustained, even-handed peace-making in the Arab-Israeli conflict: Achieving a fair, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace is the single most useful thing the United States or any foreign power can do to calm down the many conflicts and tensions in the Middle East. Washington is indispensable for achieving peace because it is the only external power that Israel trusts. The problems of the Middle East are not all due to American policies, of course, but achieving peace among Arabs and Israelis can only happen with strong American engagement. That engagement can only succeed if the United States is seen to be even-handed, which it has not been for many years.

8. Consult the neighbors regularly, not self-servingly: Washington is right to ask for help from "the neighbors" in resolving the violent instability it created by invading Iraq. But "the neighbors" are not simpleton morons who snap to attention and report for duty when America beckons, and doze off when it does not ask for their help. The United States should consult the states of the region more routinely, and take their advice seriously on other issues, such as promoting Arab-Israeli peace.

9. Stay out of local civil wars and domestic battles: The Bush administration tendency to actively support one side in local and domestic political battles in the region has almost always failed nad even backfired -- in Lebanon and Palestine most dramatically.

10. Understand the difference between religion and nationalism: The United States too often frames issues and peoples in a religious context, when most contentious issues in the region are driven by nationalism or political tensions