Scattered Work

Talking to the Muslim World

As I mentioned yesterday, Kevin Drum thinks Obama should try to encourage more substantive discourse in the press by granting access to really smart, penetrating journalists — regardless of the size of their viewership / readership. Now we hear that the president has granted his first full interview since taking office to Al Arabiya. And it was an interesting, substantive interview. What we learned more than anything from this interview, is that Obama isn’t coming to the table with some interesting new solutions to the problem. He’s basically endorsing some sort of vague two-state solution. But his approach to the process is in line with the Democracy in America post I quoted yesterday.

One other thing struck me about this interview. Obama emphasizes cooperation, rather than just tolerance. He talks about a Palestinian state whose citizens have freedom of movement, sure, but he also talks about  economic engagement. This was a key point in a smart analysis of the situation posted on TPM recently:

They should speak positively about President Sarkozy’s idea of a Mediterranean Union, with Israel and Turkey acting as anchors. Clinton should offer to help organize a start to a regional water carrier to bring Turkish water to Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. There should be talk of an [sic] common market between Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Jones should speak about a bilateral defense pact with Israel and an American naval base in Haifa. The U.S. must get away from the idea that peace means “We give them land, and then maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

Obama has not yet endorsed the initial point of this post, the idea that the Clinton parameters are non-negotiable as far as America is concerned. But I think this goes back to the notion that his approach is more important than his solutions. Coming to the table, from the beginning, with non-negotiable parameters sets the wrong tone. In his interview with Al Arabiya the president drives home the point that as Americans, we aren’t going to fully understand the complexity of the situation. And so first we listen. But we also set our eyes not just on tolerance, peace defined as lack of aggression, but on a vital economic and cultural exchange in the region.

Tags: Barack Obama, Gaza, Israel, the media, West Bank

Obama in a nutshell

Democracy in America posted a really smart take on what characterizes Obama’s philosophy. I almost want to repost the whole thing, but I’ll satisfy myself with three paragraphs:

So Mr Obama isn’t original in his conception of government (do what works, not more). Nor is he particularly creative in his thinking of “what works”: he’s a relatively orthodox American liberal. So is there anything original to Mr Obama, or is he a lot of sizzle and not a lot of steak?

To my mind, Mr Obama brings not a big theory of government, but he does have one of governance. He sees that America often gets pathologically bad policy because of the way it makes decisions. Many policies, especially economic ones, are captured by self-interested lobbies. Other policies, notably social policy, come out skewed because in an increasingly polarised Congress, the majority railroads the minority, and the majority’s center is never where the country’s is. And many Americans, frustrated by these first two tendencies, switch off, and a switched-off electorate is no effective check that could help government get better again.

It’s a downward spiral Mr Obama seems to recognise, and to be trying hard to break. He moved to curb lobbies with one of his first orders. He has promised to listen to conflicting opinions, and he has no crusader’s zeal when he talks about divisive social issues. With creative uses of technology, not to mention his skilled oratory, he hopes to reconnect the average citizen to government, getting voters to think about what they want and what they don’t, so they can keep government honest.

Let’s hope it works. But this read on Obama’s vision for America also relates to something Kevin Drum posted a few days ago about Obama’s relationship with the media. Check out Drum’s post for the details (and how he thinks Obama should nudge the press to change their approach). It’ll be interesting to see if the new administration really can change the tone of the conversation. They seem, at least, to be genuinely interested in doing so.

Tags: Barack Obama, the media