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August 20, 2004/Elul 3 5764, Vol. 56, No.48
Sealing out the world
JONATHAN FRIENDLY
Jewish Renaissance Media
Here's what you are likely to start hearing as Americans worry about the loss of lives and waste of national fortunes in Iraq:
"Islamic terrorism will remain a threat as long as an imperial America tries to impose its economic, political and moral standards on the world and particularly on the Middle East and Islamic states in Asia. Reducing the threat will require a more modest view of America's role in the world that emphasizes concrete national interests instead of moral purpose. We will need to rethink the support we give to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Israel."
The prescription will be to work for energy self-sufficiency and to cut back on our presence in the Middle East, leaving the countries there to stew in their own historical juices.
While getting away from our national over-dependence on imported oil and curbing any tendencies to be a global bully is plainly vital, the rest of the ideas - under quiet discussion in diplomatic, political and academic circles - are wildly out of keeping with the American character and with the realities of the 21st century.
Isolationism might have worked for us before World War I, but it is no longer either a workable or desirable option. Without the steadying influence of the United States, what are now internal civil wars will surely become regional conflicts - think about Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa or even India-Pakistan - with the potential to blossom into a third global war. Nor can we expect the standard of living to continue to improve nationally or globally without continuing the trade expansion that our economic power makes possible.
And rather than reducing terrorism, a Fortress America stand would strengthen the hands of the Iranian ayatollahs and the Osama bin Ladens who would take our absence from the Mideast as a vindication of their tactics and a spur to widening their efforts outside the region.
The tragedy of 9/11 already has forced us to reconsider our mindless support of the Saudi Arabian monarchy and may inspire us to demand a well-planned transition toward democracy after a thorough revision of public schooling there to break the power of religious extremism. Our backing of the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes already has let us push them to work for responsible solutions to the corruption and misery of the Palestinians under Yasser Arafat.
Most importantly, our deep relationship with Israel has allowed America to show that it remembers both history and human rights, that it does want the spread of democracy in Middle East and that it values and rewards loyalty.
The worst thing we could do for the Middle East, the globe and ourselves is to betray those bonds. It is not our support of Israel that causes Islamic extremism, but rather the willingness of Muslim national leaders to use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a distraction from their own failures and corruption.
Jonathan Friendly is contributing editor at Jewish Renaissance Media.
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