THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 141, June 14, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE OBAMA EFFECT? IRAN'S ELECTION RESULT PROVES
THE U.S. FORMULA IN THE MIDDLE EAST IS NOT WORKING
By Dr. Michael Rubin
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST: BARACK OBAMA'S APPEASEMENT OF THE ISLAMIST POLITICAL REGIME
IN IRAN -- OBAMA'S FOCUS UPON DIPLOMACY AS THE MEANS OF DEALING WITH IRAN -- OBAMA'S REVERSAL OF U.S.
POLICY TOWARD SYRIA -- OBAMA'S ARRGANCE & NAIVETE -- OBAMA & THE TRIUMPH OF ADVOCACY OVER ANALYSIS --
OBAMA & THE TRIUMPH OF RADICAL IDEOLOGY OVER REALITY -- OBAMA AS A SERIOUS THREAT TO AMERICA'S VITAL
NATIONAL INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
FULL STORY:
On June 4, 2009, U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama declared, "I've come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning
between the United States and Muslims around the world." Awed by Obama's rhetoric, many commentators --
blogger Juan Cole and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann, for example -- suggested that an "Obama Effect" could
usher in a new era of hope and change in the Middle East, and a pro-American outcome in Lebanese elections
earlier this month seemed to cooperate with the theory.
After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection in Iran, we can now say with confidence: There is an Obama Effect, but
it has less to do with reform and more to do with American arrogance and the triumph of advocacy over analysis.
Look carefully at how things unfolded in Tehran. Outreach to the Islamic Republic is Obama's signature foreign
policy issue. A week into his Presidency, Obama extended an olive branch to Tehran, asking the regime to
unclench its fist. Two months later, Obama broadcast a message to Iran, for the first time recognizing the
ayatollahs as the legitimate representatives of the Iranian people. Last month, Obama acknowledged the Islamic
Republic's right to enrich uranium and, in Cairo, he acknowledged CIA involvement in the overthrow of an Iranian
government more than a half-century ago.
Rhetoric, concession and apology, however, are not enough to alter reality. On Friday, June 11, millions of Iranians
cast votes in hotly contested presidential elections, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust-denying Iranian
President who defies nuclear safeguards and mocks U.S. weakness, won a second term.
Many journalists and diplomats believe the election was fixed. Perhaps it was. But this is Iran, where the word of
the Supreme Leader trumps everything.
Obama, embracing what might be called born again diplomacy, believes he can reset all bilateral relations with the
press of a button. But the failure of engagement with rogue regimes has less to do with his predecessors and more
to do with the nature of the enemy. If the Islamic Republic of Iran blatantly throws an election, why should the
White House believe they will honor diplomatic commitments?
Obama's partisans misunderstand Lebanon as well. The victorious coalition coalesced in anger to the
Syria-sponsored assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister. George W. Bush responded by isolating
Damascus diplomatically to force Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon. Rather than maintain pressure on the Syrian
regime, Obama has reversed Syria's isolation. Recognizing that it will not be held to account, Syria will simply
accelerate its provision of weaponry to Hezbollah so it can achieve through guns what it has not at the ballot box.
Both Iranians and Lebanese deserve praise for engaging enthusiastically in the democratic process. Both peoples
are courageous in the face of oppression. But Obama has no magic wand. The more his policy rests on rhetoric
alone and ignores reality, the greater the ultimate risk of conflict.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University, 1999) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist
ideology, is a senior editor of the Middle East Quarterly, a senior lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, and a resident
scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical
Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson,
of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition
Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense
(2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref
Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale
University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew
University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rubin was originally published in the New York Daily News, June 14, 2009, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/2161/iran-election-obama- effect)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
June 14, 2009
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XI, 2009
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity