If the United States wants to succeed in bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East, its leaders need to stop looking to the crumble of the Soviet Union for an example, according to a former State Department official who spoke Thursday at the University of Utah.
While the Communist bloc fell apart, for a large part, because of economic disparities with the Western capitalist countries and a string of unsuccessful, full-scale wars, the Middle East problems are attributable to a frustration with the United States, not a lack of knowledge about it, said Jon Alterman.
"It's easy to say that the Middle East is not Eastern Europe," Alterman said. "But it's unsettling to see how different they are."
Alterman, the director of the Middle East program for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, has previously served as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of state, a legislative aide to Sen. Daniel Moynihan, D-N.Y., and a Harvard professor. He spoke at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on Thursday afternoon and was the keynote speaker at the Brad Skinner Memorial Lecture Series at the Holladay United Church of Christ that evening.
The United States, instead of trying to promote its core political principles through educated dissidents as it successfully did in Eastern Europe, needs to look for more diverse allies in Arab countries, Alterman said. Currently, however, American policy relies on the "liberal elites" — Arabs who are generally Western-educated, secular, English-speaking and older — who, while they may be native, are not as well-respected within their societies as younger, more radical and anti-American leaders.
"Liberal elites aren't proving to be good opinion leaders within their communities," he said. "Further association with the West only weakens them."
American expenditures are not helping matters in the region, either, and it goes well beyond funding for Israel. For example, many grants from the government have too many bureaucratic hoops for the average Arab and often require English skills, Alterman said.
To improve the political climate within the region, Alterman said, American leaders need to work better with local governments and the European Union, which is more respected than the United States, especially by the more radical elements. They also need to issue smaller grants to communities, even those that may not adhere to every American ideal, in an effort to make "humble" gains in the region.
Also not having an impact in the region — unlike in Eastern Europe — is the spread of American culture and fashion. Oftentimes, while an Arab may have the same music and clothing tastes as a New Yorker, he will actually have a deep-seated dislike for American policies.
"It's very easy to confuse wearing jeans with embracing Western ideals," he said.
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com