CAIRO MESSAGE

US President Barack Obama has made a speech in Cairo calling for the opening of a new era in relations between the United States and the Islamic world. As a matter of fact, it was his desire to boost confidence between the West and the Muslim East that was behind the US leader's tour of the Middle East, which included visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

 "US is part of Muslim world"

The tour, which culminated in a speech by the US president at Cairo University, is a milestone for the policy, widely proclaimed in his election campaign, to improve the international image of the US. This mainly concerns the Muslim world, which is dominated by anti-American sentiment due to US disregard of the interests of Palestine and a succession of military operations on the territories of Muslim countries.

Prior to his visit to Egypt, Obama told the French Canal+ TV channel that the "USA has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world" referring to the existence of an enormous Muslim community in the States. He reiterated the idea in his now historic Cairo speech. "The USA holds one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. I urge all Muslim countries not to distance themselves from the USA, because we are part of the Islamic world."

Obama opened his speech with the Muslim greeting "As salaam aleykum". Addressing the Muslim world, he said, "As long as our relations are conditioned by the differences between us, we will be providing ammunition to those who sow the seeds of hatred, not peace, and those striving for conflict, not cooperation, which is capable of helping us to build justice and prosperity for all our peoples. This vicious circle of suspicion and rift must be broken". There is no doubt that the mere statement of the problem is remarkable in itself, because it issued from the leader of a western superpower which many contemporary political analysts see as the main contributor to what they perceive as an impending "war of civilizations". Citing a verse from the holy Koran, "Be afraid of Allah and always say the right word", Obama said, "That is what I will try to do today - to say the right word as best I can, realizing the complexity of the task we face and knowing that the universal human interests which bind us together are immeasurably stronger than the divide between us."

The US president noted that, although he is a Christian himself, his father "was born in Kenya into a family with whole generations of Muslims". Obama himself spent several years in Indonesia as a boy and "always woke to the sound of the morning azan". According to the American leader, "partnership between America and Islam should be based on what Islam actually represents, not on what it isn't". Thus the US president is convinced that "our common enemy" is the Al-Qaidah terrorist organization, which is responsible for the worsening of relations between East and West. In his speech, Barack Obama went beyond a purely theoretical description of the future "US-Muslim" partnership. He also spoke about the measures being enacted to reduce tension in relations between the USA and the Muslim world. He focused on the military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. About the former he said, "the United States does not want to keep its troops in Afghanistan and we don't need military bases there", indicating that the USA "would gladly return every soldier home", withdrawing troops as soon as relative stability is reached within this war-torn country. "Unlike Afghanistan, the war in Iraq was a war of choice and it had serious repercussions, both in my country and around the world. And although at the end of the day I believe that the people of Iraq are better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also think that developments in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and to build international accord wherever possible". The US president confirmed his intention to pull out all US troops from Iraq by 2012. He also referred to his decree to close the prison at Guantanamo by early next year. 

In his speech the US president also touched upon the problem of Iran, urging it "not to be a hostage to the past". With regard to Iran's nuclear programme, Obama acknowledged that "we have reached a decisive point", because "this is not simply about American interests, it's about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East which could lead this region and the world down a very dangerous path". Obama confirmed "America's commitment to seek a world in which no nation holds nuclear weapons". At the same time he added that "any country, including Iran, should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty". 

Also high on the agenda in Obama's speech was the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which contributes most to the negative image of the US within the Muslim world. The statements he made confirmed a new trend in US policy, which was also manifest in the recent talks between the US president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the Palestine national administration, Mahmud Abbas, in Washington. Obama made it clear that it was against the interests of the USA, which aspires to improve its image in the international arena, especially in the Muslim world, to sustain the conflict in the Middle East or to provide unconditional support for Israel. Further evidence of US refusal to give absolute approval to Israeli action was the demand that Netanyahu reverse the construction of Jewish settlements on occupied Arab territories and return to dialogue with the Palestinians. Noting that "the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in a tragic history that cannot be denied", Obama indicated that "it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people, Muslims and Christians, have suffered in pursuit of a homeland". 

"The situation of the Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own," he said. The White House's new approach, however, does not mean that Washington will turn its back on Israel. Obama demonstrates his commitment to the "special relations" between the two countries, confirming in his Cairo remarks that US-Israeli cooperation will remain firm. 

The US president reiterated the need to resolve the Middle East conflict on the basis of the principle of "two states" - Israeli and Palestinian. "That is in Israel's interest, Palestine's interest, America's interest and the world's interest. And that is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience and dedication that the task requires," said Obama. 

The US president concluded the Palestinian-Israeli section of his speech with the following: "Too many tears have been shed. Too much blood has been shed. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without fear; when the Holy Land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that God intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims, and a place for all of the children of Abraham to mingle peacefully together as in the story of Isra, when Moses, Jesus and Mohammed, peace be upon them, joined in prayer."

At the end of his appeal to the Muslim world, President Obama said "faith should bring us together". "That's why we welcome efforts like Saudi Arabian King Abdullah's interfaith dialogue and Turkey's leadership in the Alliance of Civilizations." "The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. That must now be our work here on Earth," he concluded.

The reaction to the US leader's remarks was quite diverse. Regardless of the assessments, however, it is clear that the world had long been awaiting a call for global accord, made by a leader of the country with most influence on global policies.

Optimists and sceptics 

The Muslim world has largely approved of Barack Obama's remarks. The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ishanoglu, even said that, after this constructive speech by the US president, "it is possible to count on positive changes in the Muslim world". The Secretary General of the League of Arab Nations saw in Obama's words a "confirmation of the US administration's new approach to relations with countries of the Muslim and Arabic world, which will now be based on dialogue between different cultures and nations and a just approach to the Middle East problem and to the rights of the Palestinian people". The leaders of Egypt and Jordan, the US's main allies in the region, also gave positive assessments of Obama's speech.

At the same time, the reaction of the Muslim community was not over-enthusiastic. Most prominent figures, not to mention public opinion in Muslim countries, while approving of Obama's criticism of Israel, still think that the US president has to back up his words with specific action. This is critical, particularly as radical Islamists have described Obama's speech as yet another trick of US diplomacy. Iran's spiritual leader, Seyed Ali Hamenei, has said that "even if the Americans make sweet and pleasant speeches to Muslim nations, this will not change anything - action is required". A leading member of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hasan Fadlyallah, termed Obama's remarks, "nice words which many people liked. However, we did not notice a real change in the content of what the US president said. No-one needs such sermons. We require a real change in US foreign policy, starting with the Palestinian problem". 

Terrorist organization Al-Qaedah, for its part, published its own appeal to Muslims, urging them not to believe Obama because this is "simply Bush in disguise". 

There are radicals in Israel too. It is being said in that country's political circles that "Obama is too na?ve" because "Arab states won't do what the US president expects them to" and that Israel will have to take decisions proceeding from its own national interests, not from calls by the US leader. The fact that Obama did not lambast Iran's nuclear programme and spoke about the "regime of ayatollahs" in conciliatory tones, caused particular outrage in the Jewish state. 

Meanwhile, the Israeli administration has described the Cairo speech in more positive colours. Prior to the speech, the outspoken Israeli leader, President Shimon Peres, understanding only too well what Obama was about to say, decided to beat him to it by publishing a story in the British Times headlined "Time to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict". He expressed confidence that Obama's visit would herald a new opportunity to move the peace process forward. The Israeli leader expressed his readiness to hold talks with Arab countries "on the basis of an understanding of common interests". At the same time, he noted that "Palestinians need the support of all Arab countries in making historic decisions and compromises and then honouring them". "It is easier than ever before to strike a peace deal today, while the alternative would be to split the Middle East," Peres said. After Obama's speech, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that the Israeli government no longer intended to build new Jewish settlements. 

And yet it is obvious that Obama's speech, and the Middle East policy proclaimed therein, will not yield fruit immediately. Regional problems are so deep and the level of mistrust between the USA (and the whole West) and the Muslim world is so high that they can hardly be overcome in the near future. At the same time, we have to acknowledge that by his Cairo speech, which contained a call for accord between civilizations, Obama made a significant step in this direction. This step may prove productive both in the context of a settlement for the Middle East and from the standpoint of the expansion of US global aspirations. The policies of the new White House leader are focused not only on the interests of America as the leader of the Western world which is opposed to other communities, but much more as a superpower responsible for world order as a whole, aspiring to create an equilibrium between centres of power in the world. Whether the US president has succeeded in convincing mankind (not only the Muslim part of it) that the country he leads has sufficient moral authority to implement the mission will become clear in the near future.