University of Michigan professor: President Obama 'on right track' in the Middle East

Posted: 10:35 a.m. December 4, 2009

ANN ARBOR.com

It's been less than a year since he took office, but President Barack Obama has already made progress to improve America's image in the Middle East, said University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert Juan Cole.

Cole, speaking Thursday at the Eastern Michigan University Student Center at the request of EMU's Muslim Students Association, said the character of U.S. policy and diplomacy in the Middle East is "night and day" different than it was under President George W. Bush.

Juan R. Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. He is author of several books on the Middle East, including his most recent "Engaging the Middle East."

Courtesy, University of Michigan

While there "isn't much to say, so far" about Obama's achievements since taking office, Cole said that, in terms of message and policy, America's efforts in the Middle East are headed in the right direction for the first time in a long time.

The professor cited public opinion polls that a supermajority of Middle Easterners would prefer better relations with the United States. He said Obama's speeches to Muslim audiences in Ankara, Turkey and Cairo, Egypt were encouraging signs that the United States is prepared to re-engage the Middle East.

"There's a way to deal with people and with other countries. You talk to them. You treat them with respect. You don't threaten them," said Muayad Mahmoud, a leader within the EMU Muslim Students Association.

Cole said Obama has a chance to make a real impact on policy matters.

"For the first time in a long time," Cole said of the Arab-Israeli conflict, an historic source of tension for America in the Middle East, "we have an administration in Washington that would genuinely like to see a resolution. People take Obama as an honest broker, which hasn't always been the case with American presidents in the past."

Cole said if anyone could pressure Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop Israeli settlements and carve out a viable piece of land for a Palestinian state, it's White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who has developed a reputation for getting what he wants, whether from friend or foe.

"I wouldn't rule out Obama succeeding in the creation of a Palestinian state by the time it's all said and done," Cole added.

Even when it comes to Iran, Obama has won some minor victories, Cole said.

"We were pretty much on wartime footing with Iran by the time Obama took office," Cole said, citing Bush's declaration that U.S. officials could kill Iranians found in Iraq. 

An Oct. 1 meeting between members of the Obama administration and ruling interests in Iran yielded fruit when Iran announced days later that it would allow international inspectors to examine its nuclear facilities.

As for the idea that Iran has nuclear aspirations, Cole isn't buying it.

"It is impossible to build an atomic bomb when you've opened the doors to international scrutiny," he said. "I'd change my mind if, one day, Iran decides to kick out the weapons inspectors."

Cole said any efforts to build a nuclear weapon could easily be detected, by water and electricity use, and would leave an "electromagnetic signature."

Beyond Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain Obama's biggest challenges in the Middle East. Despite a troop presence in Afghanistan since October 2001, Obama said in a recent speech that America never committed the energy and manpower necessary to resolve that conflict. In a speech this week, Obama committed 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. They'll start deploying in summer 2010, and withdrawal will begin in July 2011, Obama said.

Cole said that U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will be to chase the Taliban out of tribal villages. Rather than simply moving on and chasing the next battle, U.S. forces will hunker down, protecting Afghans from Al Qaeda and developing sources of information that will give the terrorist group little room to operate.

"Almost everywhere you look in the Middle East, Obama has U.S. policy on the right track," Cole said. "It's too soon to know what will work and what won't, but the prospects of success are high."

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.