4.3 United States’ soft power profiles
4.3.9 American foreign policies in the Middle East
The major driving dynamics of the United States foreign policy in the Middle East are oil and Israel and this is a reality that is clear to the Arab countries. Israel is seen as an occupier of Arab lands and a country that should be wiped off the Middle East map and United States foreign policy is seen as biased towards Israel. It is clear, therefore, why the Arab world has a negative perception of the United States. Middle Eastern anti-Americanism is occasionally the cause of violent reaction from fundamentalist groups such as the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 1993, American military personnel in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996, American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, the USS Cole in 2000 and the World Trade Centre and Pentagon in 2001 (Meyer, 2003).
Beyond oil and Israel as sources of American foreign policy in the Middle East that anger Middle Eastern citizens, other issues include Washington’s half-hearted promotion of democracy (the United States seems to promote democracy in countries where democracy guarantees its economic and strategic interests and downplay democracy in countries where democracy may threaten those interests); the war on terrorism and drone strikes in Muslim lands; the perceived American biased role in the Israel-Palestinian conflict in favour of Israel; and theAmerican military presence in Muslim lands, most especially in Saudi Arabia which is considered the holy land of Muslims. The United States’ relations with Saudi Arabia have resulted in Arab anger and criticism of the United States and the Saudi regime. The anger is sometimes expressed through violence as was evident in the 1995 and 1996 bombing of American forces in Saudi Arabia (Meyer, 2003).
Accordingly, American foreign policy in this region is a major source of anti-Americanism.
Anti-Americanism, which largely emerged from Washington’s foreign policy, is a political mindset that has become a buzzword among keen observers of international politics across the world. However, it has been widely expressed by the Muslims in the Middle Eastern countries in recent times (Baxter & Akbarzadeh, 2008). “US soft power in the Middle East is limited by opposition to US foreign policy: people in the region admire US culture, science and technology, and democracy, but not American foreign policy.”36 According to Nye (2004a), when a state embarks on policies that are perceived by other states to be inclusive, multilateral and broad,
36 An interview with American Scholar 1
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such a state effortlessly generates soft power. On the other hand, foreign policies that are perceived to be unilateral, arrogant and selfish in the eyes of others diminish the efficacy of a state’s soft power. American engagement in the Middle East is perceived to be unilateral and arrogant. The unilateral position is illustrated by its war on terrorism in Iraq and its continual drone strikes in the Middle East. America’s blatant defence of Israel, despite the plight of Palestine, is perceived as arrogant by many Arabs, as are the air strikes on Libya, Sudan and Iraq which caused the deaths of many Muslim Middle Eastern civilians (Abdallah, 2003). Similarly, United States economic sanctions on Iraq, Syria, Libya and Sudan and the torture of Arab prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib are viewed as unduly aggressive (Abdallah, 2003). Nye (2004a, p.121) observed that the answer to the question “why do they hate us?” lies in the fact that “many Arabs feared, misunderstood, and opposed American policies, but nonetheless admired some aspects of American culture”.
Realising the need to improve the American image in the Middle East, which has plummeted over the years most especially after the launch of the war of terrorism, the United States government has sought to boost its soft power through two major initiatives: the mass media and policies. The mass media is fundamental to setting the agenda by influencing people’s perception and attitudes in a given society. The Bush administration was convinced that one of the factors that strongly contributed to anti-Americanism was the Arab media. For instance, the former secretary of state, Donald Rumsfeld, accused Al-Jazeera for promoting anti-Americanism in the Middle East after the satellite television station broadcasted the beheading of Iraqi hostages.
Similarly in his 2004 State of the Union address, President George W Bush argued that the Arab television stations triggered recent anti-Americanism by projecting news and images that produce such a reaction among the Arab people (Baylouny, 2005). The United States established media outlets like Radio Sawa, al Hurra television and Hi magazine with aim of portraying the United States in a positive light and influencing the perception of the Arab world about Washington. Radio Sawa was established in 2002 targeting the Arab youth and it has enjoyed wide coverage in the Arab world. Its programmes are broadcasted in FM channels in more than 12 countries in the Arab world which, among others, include Abu Dhabi, Amman, Baghdad, Casablanca, Djibouti, Doha, Erbil, Jerusalem, Kuwait, Manama, Rabat and Sulimaniyah (Amr, 2004). Its popularity stems from its airing of both Western and Arab music, the absence of
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commercials and brief news which is aired twice in an hour (Amr, 2004). Amr (2004) observed that:
Radio Sawa listeners are more likely to have more favorable attitudes towards the United States in all three countries. In Jordan, Radio Sawa listeners had a 37 percent favourable attitude towards the United States as compared to 22 percent of non-listeners. In Kuwait, the percentages were 49 and 54, respectively. And in the UAE, the percentages were 42 and 57, respectively. However, it is unclear whether Radio Sawa caused listeners to be more favorable towards the United States or if more favorable listeners chose Radio Sawa. (Amr, 2004, p.33)
The television station of Alhurra was established in 2004 with the primary objective to promote democracy and freedom and counteract extremism and violence in the region. Above all the aim was to boost the American image in the Middle East. Like Radio Sawa, the primary target of Alhurra is the youth who will be in charge in the near future. Alhurra operates in Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. News broadcasted on this television station usually takes an American perspective. There is wide coverage of statements and interviews of American officials, while speeches of American presidents and close officials are also frequently broadcasted. Often a single news item reflects a different standpoint when broadcast by Alhurra and Arab stations. While the Arab television station reflects the Arab perspective, Alhurra promotes the American view of this event. This television station, as one would expect, is also sympathetic to Israel (Baylouny, 2005). Unlike the success recorded by Radio Sawa in terms of the extent of penetration of the Middle Eastern countries, Alhurra has struggled to have a meaningful influence on the Arab population. One major reason for this is stiff competition (Rugh, 2004). Unlike the limited choice of radio channels, there are many popular television stations for Arab citizens.
Hi Magazine is a monthly magazine launched in 2003. It publishes articles on issues revolving around Arab-American life in Arabic. The magazine provides an avenue for readers to give feedback on the articles read in the magazine. This enables Arab citizens to ask questions on American society and culture and also to seek clarity on issues which seem obscure regarding the American way of life (Amr, 2004). In an area where there is limited access to internet, the magazine is a useful tool for promoting American ideas. In addition to the media efforts in the Middle East, a major initiative of the American government to win the minds and hearts of the Middle Eastern population is the Middle East Partnership Initiative.
The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) was launched in 2002 with initial funding of $29 million. The programme objective was to promote freedom and peace in the Middle East with
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the hope that the success of the initiative would guarantee American security. No doubt American security is threatened by the anti-Americanism in the Middle East which leads to violent attacks on American interests by extremists in this region. Given that the Middle Eastern population has witnessed the raw display of American hard power as evident in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the continued drone strikes in Pakistan and other Muslim countries, MEPI serves as a tool to promote the soft power currencies of the United States involving foreign aid, trade, education and democratisation. MEPI has a four-point agenda which it strives to achieve in the Middle East. This includes political reform, economic reform, educational reform and women’s empowerment (Sharp, 2005). Washington strongly believes that these various reforms would significantly contribute towards the reduction of extremism in the region because the socio-economic condition of an individual may influence his predisposition towards extremism (Akinola & Tella, 2013). In this light, US economic aid in this programme is tied to economic and political reforms in the region. Some success has been evident with programme beneficiaries embracing elements of democratisation such as the establishment of parliaments and opposition political parties to contest in national elections. However, MEPI has little influence in many Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Sharp, 2005).
In the political arena, MEPI has funded voter registration programmes in Yemen, judicial reform seminars in Oman and Bahrain, and training sessions for female candidates for parliament in Morocco. In the economic sphere, the programme has funded commercial law initiatives, debt reform, and the development of information technology infrastructures in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. In addition, MEPI hopes to help fund retraining programmes for Moroccan farmers who have suffered financial hardship as a result of the US-Moroccan free trade agreement. The initiative also works with the US Department of Commerce to provide internships in American companies for young professionals and to provide training to women entrepreneurs from the Middle East. In the realm of education reform and assistance, the Middle East Partnership Initiative has a pilot programme in Yemen to promote women’s literacy, as well as plans to develop greater access to the internet for rural populations. In 2003, 26 students across the Middle Eastern countries who possessed leadership qualities, were provided with the opportunity to participate in various programmes in the United States geared towards learning American politics, history and culture (Amr, 2004). MEPI also funds teacher training programmes at primary and secondary school levels (Sharp, 2005: 5).
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Having examined the composition of the American power, both in terms of its soft and hard currencies, an investigation of the debate around the United States decline will follow.