Obama and the Middle East

[Ozzie Osmond]

So it seems the President is serious about a tide of change across the Middle East leading to a new era of peace and prosperity.

With mass uprisings in so many countries, and threatened elsewhere, we shall see whether the will of the people can indeed deliver the Western values and affluence to which they are thought to aspire. A few old rivalries need to be buried along the way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13450481

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13464427

[Victor McDade]

I've always felt that Obama, like his predecessors Bush and Clinton, has good intentions when it comes to the ME. I also think that the Americans are not just all talk and the way they quickly dumped their long term ally Hosni Mubarak is proof of this. I just don't see how the Obama administration can call for and encourage democracy in places like Syria and Libya whilst ignoring their chums in kingdoms like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Likewise with Iran and the White House's criticism of their human rights whilst only giving token gestures about the state sponsored killings by other ME governments.

Re 'going back to 1967 borders' and IP , well what Ehud Barak offered at the Camp David Summit was essentially this however the division of Jerusalem was the sticking point. I don't think any Israeli leader now, particularly not Netanyahu, would offer similar terms. The latter has already come out after Obama's statement saying giving up land to go back to something like 1967 borders would leave, in his opinion, the state defenceless against future Palestinian/Arab attack.

Personally I think the two nation theory is dead. The only solution now imo will come through breeding and a population growth of Israeli Arabs. Once they grow and become more politically active, issues like 'the right to return' for Arab refugees may just start to get resolved.

[JMGS4]

Obama and the US only handle in their own interests. To assume that obama is saying and doing these things for the good of humanity is illusory and idiocy!!
Governments (especially the US) are always out for their own good and nothing else, if you doubt it look at the US's involvement in the 1st and 2nd World Wars.... only joined when it was of use or necessary for them, otherwise they'd have continued supplying ancient arms at overinflated prices....and ripping off their so-called partners.
They've ALWAYS done this and will continue to do so.

[Sprouts]

Gideon Levy gets it just about right again.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/obama-de...

Like he says, no matter what Obama says, they'll just please themselves and fk everyone else. The bds.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-...

[Asterix]

Having lived in the Middle East for nigh on eight years, I can confidently predict that western style democracy will always struggle to work, especially in the Gulf states. They're very different. I've traveled pretty extensively and most of the cultures if met are a variation on a theme - the Arab culture is something completely different.

[Ozzie Osmond]

It'll be interesting to see how the whole thing unfolds. I never cease to be amazed how many "tribal" issues there are across the whole of the African continent and the apparently limitless scope for old quarrels to re-emerge.

[Victor McDade]

Ozzie Osmond said:

It'll be interesting to see how the whole thing unfolds. I never cease to be amazed how many "tribal" issues there are across the whole of the African continent and the apparently limitless scope for old quarrels to re-emerge.

We see it in South Asia too. Tribes/Castes/Religion/Race/Pigmentation of skin all play a part in who wins elections in countries like India and Pakistan.

Its a rotten system but as Churchy said, its still better than all the alternatives. Democracy is an evolving process. Many say the Arabs are not 'ready' for it yet but I think this is a fairly patronising view to hold. It has to start somewhere.