With the presidential election looming in the not-so-distant future, several key issues remain effervescent within the news. Clearly, headlines regarding the economy are inescapable, and abortion, healthcare and gay marriage ride just behind in its wake. At the same time, international policy, an arena that also demands much attention, garners its share of media coverage. And with the Middle East as politically charged as ever, we look to our fearless leader, our commander-in-chief, el presidente, to guide us past murky waters.
The Arab Spring, which began roughly a year and a half ago when a Tunisian man self-immolated in response to ongoing mistreatment and harassment from government officials, unleashed a fire storm of revolutions throughout North Africa and the Middle East. We are all aware of the backlash which the Egyptian and Libyan federal governments attempted to defend against and the annihilation that Bashar al-Assad regime is currently carrying out in order to dispel its oppositions’ will to topple it. Post-Muammar al-Gadhafi Libya and the notion of a post-Assad Syria continue to raise question marks; however, Egypt’s future, and indeed its present, appears much less nebulous.
After the demolition of the government in Egypt under Hosni Mubarak —a leader who the United States and Israel enjoyed working with because of his willingness to comply with their needs—the international community exhibited much unrest over a potential extremist, yet democratically elected new Egyptian order. The man who replaced Mubarak was Mohamed Morsi, a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood, a party that stands as a powerful opposition group to many political administrations throughout the region. At the time of his induction, much of the Western World grew apprehensive. It was posited that although Morsi may be a better leader for his own people than Mubarak was, he would denounce previous peace treaties, and he would begin to sever pacific ties with some countries whom Egypt had been engaging with nonviolently for over three decades.
So far that has not been the case. And President Obama has been exuding large efforts to make sure that U.S. and Israeli interests are kept alive and healthy throughout Morsi’s tenure. Before a few days ago, Egypt held within its possession $3.2 billion worth of IOUs to the U.S. But as President Obama initiated an Egyptian debt relief package that amount could approach $1 billion. Obama has assumed a large role in ensuring that Egypt holds true to the 1979 Camp David Accords, the first of Israel’s peace treaties with its Islamic neighbors and its overall nonviolent stance toward Western states.
Stability in this very unstable region can only be made possible through action, not through speech alone. With so much uncertainty during this era of revolutions, we look for leaders who can deftly leverage power through action for the interests of world stability. President Barack Obama is helping to do just that. Conversely, Republican candidate Mitt Romney‘s campaign’s recent trip to Israel was the cherry on top of an international tour replete with gaffes. In London he enigmatically questioned the readiness of the Brits for their role as hosts of the Olympics. His following trip to Israel was marred by a speech declaring that the Palestinians’ economic woes are due to the fact that their culture is actually inherently inferior to that of the Israelis. What his discourse should have included was a way to successfully implement resolutions so that both Israel and Palestine flourish economically.
Rhetoric used throughout the Middle East is currently inflamed and vicious. Fighting fire with fire only creates larger, more destructive, wider-spread fires. Israel, one of our closest allies, needs to be safe and secure under all circumstances. With that said, the approach to peace in the Middle East that exhibits the disparaging of other cultures and the unconditionally complicit attitude towards war is beneficial to none and detrimental to all parties involved.
Zachary is a senior majoring in philosophy and communications. Send any feedback for him to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
