Wednesday, October 3, 2001

U.S. gauging international ties
By Jordan Blum
Staff Reporter

The terrorist attacks against the United States on Sept. 11 has sent shock waves through the world of international diplomacy, forcing America and foreign nations to re-evaluate their relationships.

Political scientists said the attacks have put the United States into a position where it must seek support from previously unfriendly countries. Different tactics are required to gain that support.

Israeli Vice Consulate Dan Shaham said nations such as Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Sudan may pledge some degree of support to the United States, but they cannot be trusted in the long term.

“These countries have fought us all the way and they’ve praised terrorist attacks on Israel and the United States for years,” Shaham said. “Only now, when this horrific attack on Sept. 11 took place, did people even begin to understand the horror of terrorism.

“Many of these countries have pledged their support to the United States, but their support is very limited,” Shaham said. “It’s just a shame such an awful terrorist attack had to occur for people to realize peace talks may be the answer and violence means nothing.”

Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger of the Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth said strong U.S. relations with Israel have caused anti-U.S. sentiment in Islamic Middle Eastern nations, but the primary reason many of these nations are against the United States is because they hate the Western style of life.

“Religious issues with Israel is a fundamental factor of their hatred,” Mecklenburger said. “But the West is the ‘Great Satan’ so if Israel didn’t exist they would still hate the West.”

According to The Associated Press, President Bush said Tuesday he envisioned a Palestinian state, and Mecklenburger said Israel has been willing to compromise with a Palestinian state.

Mecklenburger said Palestian leader Yasser Arafat is to blame for a lack of peace because Israeli President Ehud Barak was willing to concede part of Jerusalem during peace talks organized by the Clinton administration.

Political science professors Manochehr Dorraj and Ralph Carter agreed that the strong relationship between the United States and Israel is an element of the anti-Western sentiment among Islamic fundamentalists.

However, Dorraj said the Sept. 11 tragedy may serve as a turning point for the United States to re-establish relations with many former enemies.

Dorraj said countries that had rocky relationships with the United States, like Iran and Libya, see this as a diplomatic opportunity to approach the United States. The United States is in a position to reassess its attitudes and to come out with new foreign policy toward these countries, he said.

“Other nations like Sudan and Libya harbored radical politics contrary to U.S. interests and, in some instances, they were implicated in some state-sponsored terrorist activities,” he said. “But I think they are now realizing that is a self-defeating and detrimental policy to their own international interests.”

Carter said nations are supporting the United States primarily to benefit their own national interests and that very few countries will assist with military support.

“It’s politically correct for nations to say they want to help, but I think we’re reasonable in wondering what their help will actually amount to,” Carter said. “Our most likely support won’t come from the Middle East but our allies in Europe.”

The United States has already lifted restrictions on India and Pakistan to gain their support and may also need to grant concessions to nations like Russia to secure their full support, he said.

Carter said Russia has given verbal support but hasn’t come close to offering military support. He said the United States may have to accept Russia’s conflict with Chechnya as a war on terrorism.

Carter said anti-U.S. sentiments may prevent some countries from openly lending support.

“In Jordan, King Abdullah wants to be reasonable and his father was pro-West, but that view may be unpopular in Jordan, so he may help behind the scenes with intelligence,” he said.

Both Carter and Dorraj agree China could be a wild card.

Carter said China says they want to help but have actually made friendly gestures towards the Taliban.

“The Chinese aren’t our friends so anything that works to our disadvantage many in China will like,” Carter said. “So they may think a long sustained U.S. war in Afghanistan is wonderful.”

Dorraj said China disagrees with terrorism, but they may not want an active role in an anti-terrorist campaign.

“As an emerging global power, China knows terrorism could visit its doorstep next, but they fear giving full support would lead to a backlash in the Muslim world against them,” Dorraj said. “So I think their support is more moral than ideological.”

However, Carter said it’s hard to know what any nation is going to do in the long run.

“It’s popular and chic for nations to say they support us, but what that’s going to end up meaning is hard to tell,” Carter said.

Dorraj said no nation has any reason to side against the United States in the war on terrorism.

“I think all nations have something to gain by combating terrorism because random hideous terrorist acts like this serve no nation and everyone has something to lose because of it,” he said.

Jordan Blum
jdblum@student.tcu.edu