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Searching for the Ugly American
By Samir Kassir
Annahar- October 3, 2003
Why do they hate us? Two years ago, as Americans woke up of their 9/11 nightmare some of them asked the question above, meaning why do Arabs and/or Muslims hate the United States. But those who posed this question didn't take it seriously. The United States strived at the time to revive what is called in the United States Public Diplomacy in a superficial attempt to draw nearer Arab societies or some of its elites to the American Dream. A number of decision-makers in Washington rushed to issue final verdicts that tied this presumed hatred to the absence of democracy in the Arab world. Shortly after, President Bush interpreted this relationship as being a permit for adventures that have, most probably, led to a surge in the amount of grudge that the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington had expressed. Why do they still "hate us?" Two years after the attacks of Al-Qaeda, the structure of the question changed. But the attempt to answer it still lacks sincerity. "Why do they still hate us" could have been the title of the study that a consultant group headed by former ambassador Ed Djerdjian prepared upon the request of President Bush. The study was aimed at assessing "the diplomacy of dealing with public opinion in the Arab and Islamic worlds." But the study, even if it pointed at political reasons that are outside the scope of public diplomacy, remained technical to a great extent and did not even come close to the core of the problem as it expressed continuous confusion that has obstructed the understanding of the crisis between the Arabs and the United States. The confusion is between the image of the United States as a civilized system and the image of the United States as a super political power. Even with admitting that the spread of Islamist thought has negatively reflected on the Western civilization image in general, and the American in particular, in the Arab world, concluding that there exists a cultural clash with the United States is a matter of simplification. On the contrary, examples that suggest it is the other way around are countless starting with the ongoing temptation of emigration to the United States, ending with the continuous popularity of Hollywood movies and including the spread of symbols of the American consumer economy such as food and clothes. Perhaps the clearest proof for the separation between the civilization of the United States and its policies is the success that Radio Sawa scored in more than one Arab country, especially in the Gulf and Jordan. For example in Amman, where a militant rhetoric that combines inflamed Arab nationalism and "Islamic nationalism" dominates the politicized public opinion, a person could barely hear in taxis something other than the brief news bulletins of Radio Sawa and its musical programming that combines the latest Arab hits and Rock music. This does not stop the driver/listener from swearing at American policy in Iraq and Palestine. Therefore, researching "the negative image imprinted in the minds of the Arabs and the Muslims about the United States" becomes out of place. This negative image might reflect some negativity against American culture, as is the case among some factions of the Saudi society and some of Islamist radicals in Egypt or in other countries. Public diplomacy, however, won't work no matter how much aid and how many books and libraries America offers. America will not find a way to face these sectors without the comeback of the Arab renaissance and enlightenment thought to the forefront, this same thought that the successive American administrations contributed in fighting through their chronic support of the dark movements and regimes before these movements and regimes rebounded against her. But if the United States tries - after a long period of animosity - to reconcile this enlightenment thought that was coupled throughout the second half of the twentieth century with facing Western policies in general and American policies in particular, this also needs more than preaching the values of democracy or defining the mechanisms of operation of the American political society. What reconciliation requires, assuming the United States was really sincere, is first its revision of its understanding of Arab democracy which is limited for the time being - in American convention - to the Arab letting go of the tie of Arabism, as echoes coming from the circles of occupation in Iraq certify, and of issues that move them, on top of them, the issue of Palestine. Perhaps that United States has great interests, greater than any other consideration, in supporting Israeli policies, no matter how radical these policies might be. In this case, the public opinion diplomacy becomes useless. But if the United States has reached another arrangement for its priorities in the Middle East and has concluded that it has an interest in neutralizing the Arab public opinion - not to say winning its affection - the recipe becomes simple: Departing from Israeli policies and working seriously for the imposition of a solution that is acceptable in Palestine to the majority of the Arabs. After all, the "ugly American" is there, and not in the restaurants of McDonalds or in Madonna's songs.
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