A new face for American diplomacy
Barack Obama is perceived by Muslims abroad like no other candidate. He would begin a presidency with tremendous potential to heal U.S. relations with much of the world.
By Hooman Majd
Pages 1 2
Feb. 21, 2008 | When I was in Tehran, Iran, a year ago, I was asked by several senior government officials, including former President Mohammad Khatami, what to make of Barack Obama's candidacy for president of the United States. The young senator from Illinois was still barely on the international radar then. My response was that I couldn't see Americans nominating, let alone electing, a black man whose middle name was Hussein. My answer, clearly wrong in hindsight, stirred smiles and raised eyebrows among the Iranian leaders because they'd had no idea that Obama had a Muslim father. Even more surprising to them was that he carried, apparently without shame, a Muslim name. From Khatami this elicited an "Ajab!" -- Farsi for, essentially, "You've got to be kidding!" There were also many nods of agreement with my conclusion about Obama's chances.
At this point in the presidential race, although it is deeply heartening that I was so wrong in my judgment of American voters, Obama's great potential to connect with the Muslim world, and to change how Muslims perceive the United States, is conspicuously absent from our national debate. A crucial question about who should be the next president is whether Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain is most likely to be able to heal the rift between the U.S. and much of the rest of the world, a rift not created but dangerously widened by the administration of George W. Bush. What is abundantly clear now -- at least to many foreigners and particularly to Muslims in the Third World -- is that Barack Obama is the candidate by far the best suited to begin healing that rift and restoring America's global reputation, and perhaps even to begin reversing decades of anti-Americanism. Obama would begin a presidency with a huge advantage in terms of world perception.
Here in America, Obama's personal connection with Islam -- slight as it is in truth -- has provoked some telling atmospherics. His Muslim name, and even his perceived Muslim past -- a fiction peddled by Fox News last year and quickly debunked by other media -- remains an issue for some Americans. Some voters freely (and shamelessly) admit to pollsters that they are "uncomfortable" with a candidate who might have Muslim sympathies or sensitivities. During one of the Democratic debates, Obama's own response to a question on this issue was overly cautious and, frankly, disappointing. He denied ever having been a Muslim -- but he neglected to point out, Seinfeld-like, that there would be nothing wrong with that. Indeed, there continues to be a lingering sense in this country, a sense that played into my conclusion in Tehran, that Muslims are by definition enemies of the West.
That's hardly surprising, after more than six years of fear-mongering by the Bush administration in its war on terrorism. Likewise, all the tough-guy rhetoric from the Republican presidential candidates about battling "Islamic fascists" has perpetuated the unease. The conspicuously churchgoing Obama, who has made a point of describing his Christian faith on the campaign trail, seems to have so far overcome the faux obstacles contained in his name -- a surname rhyming with the name of America's Public Enemy No. 1, and a middle name common to the Arab world and evoking the vanquished former dictator of Iraq. But knowing the Republican playbook, if Obama does become the Democratic nominee he will surely face insidious attacks on his profile meant to exploit Americans' fears. It is perhaps for this reason that there has been no outpouring of sentiment for Obama in the Arab or Iranian media -- something that the Muslim world knows only too well could arm the Republican attack machine and dampen Obama's chances of winning the election.
While most Americans care little about foreign policy or foreign relations, unless direct risk to American life and limb is involved, how those endeavors apply to the Muslim world will figure more prominently in the general election. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has little else to distinguish himself with than the issue of national security. The war in Iraq will still be destroying American life and limb. And there will still be a sense, here and abroad, that America remains at war with the Muslim world.
If foreign relations are viewed to be as important as foreign policy, as they should be, Hillary Clinton has big weaknesses as a candidate. Her initial, and later revised, support for the war in Iraq leaves her judgment suspect in the eyes of many in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. With the exception of maybe Europe, it is hard to imagine that Clinton will be viewed beyond U.S. shores as much different than any other recent American president when it comes to the dynamic of U.S. relations with the rest of the world. Earlier in the campaign, Clinton mocked Obama's willingness to sit down with foreign adversaries such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, arguing that the "prestige" of the United States would be put at risk by negotiating with such enemies without their meeting pre-conditions. (Clinton has since sought to clarify her position, saying that the U.S. should directly engage in "diplomatic processes" with nations such as Iran and Syria -- but she has not rescinded her position of doing so conditionally.)
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http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/21/obama_muslims/
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