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Impact of the Arab Spring

(Foreign Policy) Aaron David Miller - Unlike Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who were in love with the idea of Israel, President Obama is not. He sees Israel primarily in the context of U.S. interests - and less so in the context of its values. As the stronger party, he believes Israel should be much more magnanimous when it comes to the Palestinians. Obama has learned that fighting with Israel without a good reason is a sure path to a room full of trouble. Though he can craft an initiative laying out a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, actually producing one requires working closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu, since he can't find a way to do regime change in Israel. It's true that neither the U.S. nor Israel has been on the radar screen of reformist opposition forces, but just wait. As these systems open up and politics finds the new normal, criticism of U.S. policy, including support for Israel, will grow without the authoritarians' hands keeping it under control. In a new and more open democratic Arab world, there will be more voices from across the political spectrum expressing opposition to U.S. policies in the region - from containment of Iran to isolating Hamas to counterterrorism to support for Israel.
2011-03-09 00:00:00
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