Speaking of Arabs, here is the sort of survey never done by Arab governments:
While this post is not about Palestinians, it makes my point, that there is a diversity of opinion which a different strategy on the part of the US government could tap into.
Two points. First, let's assume that it's true (I'll type something in a moment about why I think it suspect) that 81% of the "Arab world" want "development" and think "governments" are the source of the problem, then US policies should be calibrated to address that. My guess is a large proportion of that 81% has very negative views of the US because we are either viewed as supporting those same governments or are unduly bellicose or some such.
And historically, they would be correct. And so far as I know we continue to do so, save our favorite "demons" like Iraq and Syria. I don't see how we withdraw support from the Saudis given the oil needs of this country (Bill, if you are reading this, I recommend Patrick Robinson's new novel on this point; you would like it); nor do I think it likely the US will withdraw support from Mubarek. And attacks on Iraq and, perhaps, on Syria are not about democracy building; there would be much better ways to do that. They are about, or were about, demonstrating the power of the US military. Turned out we may have shot ourselves in the foot.
Second point, I'm not certain the "Arab world" is sufficiently similar (here I reflect what I've read in, among other places, Edward Said's critiques, which I recall you think highly of ;-)) to use that as a meaningful unit. Strikes me it would be better to tell us what respondents in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, etc. say rather than the Arab world.
Ah, and a third point, I can't find enough information on StrategyPage to see how reliable the data may be. The "About Us" page wasn't terribly helpful. |
