The US administration’s costly attempts to export American democracy to the Middle East have proved futile.
The rise of Islamic parties and groups in various states in the region, particularly the victory of the Hamas in occupied Palestine, should provide top US officials much food for thought.
Hamas’ win over Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, which dominated Palestinian politics for decades and had the financial and political support of the Americans and the Europeans alike, was a litmus test of America’s Middle East policy.
American foreign policy in the region, established through the threat of bullets, bombs and embargos, has not demolished the targeted governments or political systems. Waving a thick wad of greenbacks to sell democracy will not work wonders either.
How much do the Americans really understand the world beyond their borders? Hardly, it should be said.
One wonders whether to feel sorry for the Americans or to sympathize with them. Under their swanky fa�ade, they are actually simple-minded and pathetically ignorant.
Like their current president, the American people have a poor understanding of the geography, history and cultures of the other continents. Some sections of the US media say the American people are dumber than President George W. Bush, whose lack of general knowledge is often the butt of ridicule by his critics and compatriots alike.
Ordinary Americans really do not have much exposure to the rest of the world. Their education system does not familiarize them with the history of other peoples, lands and cultures. Americans to a great extent are focused on themselves, and thus lack curiosity about much of the human race. It is said that 70 percent of Americans don’t have a passport, which means a majority of them have not traveled out of the country and hence may not know what life is beyond the “superpower“, a status that has increasingly turned out to be a sham.
The Anglo-Saxons have never allowed other ethnic groups and races to be political rulers of the US, but it should not be forgotten that the American nation has largely been and continues to be built on the brawn and brains of the African, Middle Eastern and Asian and Far Eastern communities. If it is still seen as a superpower today its thanks to the valuable contributions of the expatriates.
Most Americans live in a world of their own. No doubt they have absorbed peoples from other regions and countries and seemingly reflect a multi-cultural, multi-racial society. Yet, this is only a mirage and any visitor to America will find that racial and social segregation is rife and whites, blacks and browns prefer to live in their own enclaves.
It is said that ignorance is bliss and the average American, including politicians, is indeed blissfully unaware �. He or she would in one shot associate the entire Arab world with the Al-Qaeda, all Muslims with fanaticism and Iran with the nuclear bomb.
This is not about Christianity vs. Islam. It is ignorance vs. knowledge. And the former seems to be gaining the upper hand in the US.
The latest case in point is that various shades of American opinion see another threat to their homeland security with an Arab company taking charge of six US ports’ terminals in loading and unloading operations.
Senator Hillary Clinton and some other Congressmen have called for a close review of the $6.8 billion deal after the Dubai-based firm took over the British company that was running operations at the ports. They have expressed “fears of Al-Qaeda infiltration“ if the Arab firm handles the 2 billion tons of cargo that pass through the ports.
The concerns have arisen because a couple of the Sept. 11 accused allegedly had links to the Arab world. America is a paranoid nation today, with a crisis of leadership and identity, led by a bunch of wallies who are wayward in their ways. Republicans are wasting money and have created a national debt of $8.2 trillion in less than five years.
It’s a pity American administrators haven’t woken up to the fact that they have harmed their dignity in the eyes of the world’s peoples. If they were humble, they could have genuinely achieved a great deal in international relations.