The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

F O C U S O N P O W E L L hen President George W. Bush named ex- General Colin Powell his secretary of State, there was a sense of relief at both the popu- lar and official levels throughout the Middle East. Many in the region, from politicians and political commentators to the Arab and Muslim public, had great hopes that Powell would be more understanding of, and sympathetic to, the grievances of Arabs and Muslims than had been his predecessor, Madeleine Albright. On a policy level, the senior diplomats and politicians of the Arab and Muslim countries have long had great respect for Powell. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the first Bush administration, he was not by any means a strong supporter of the use of force against the Iraqis. Indeed, he was viewed as a courageous soldier who always thought of war only as a last option, well aware of the cost of any military confrontation, even for a military superpower. As for average Arabs and Muslims, the color of Powell’s skin and his African-American roots produced a popular affinity even among those unfamiliar with Powell’s record either as a military man or a politician. The region’s admiration for Powell had an early test, howev- er. Only a few weeks into the new administration, the U.S. shot down Iraqi planes in the no-fly zone. The strike dealt a blow to the hopes of Arab citizens and politicians who thought that the presence of Powell as a top U.S. diplomat in the administration would have prevented such actions. The region’s Powell-sympa- thizers, however, downplayed the importance of the action, portraying it as nothing more than an attempt by Bush to flex his military muscle and demonstrate his toughness. And as such, they said it would be unfair to draw any premature conclusions about Colin Powell or the administration’s foreign policy Hard-Liners vs. Powell Many bought that argument then. But in spite of repeated pleas from regional leaders, the Bush administration not only pur- sued a hands-off policy toward the festering Palestinian-Israeli prob- lem, but moved closer to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a notorious hard-liner. President Bush declined to issue an invita- tion for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to visit the White House and, instead, opened his arms and ears to Sharon. Concern started to flow from the Middle East that the Bush administra- tion’s foreign policy team had handed over the diplomatic steering wheel to the hard-liners. Commentators started to speak of a general shift in direction, insinuating that Powell was not in the driver’s seat when it came to formulating U.S. foreign policy. W P OWELL AND THE M IDDLE E AST : A V OICE OF M ODERATION ? T HE A RAB WORLD VIEWS P OWELL AS A DOVE AMONG THE MANY HAWKS IN THE B USH A DMINISTRATION , BUT A WEAK FIGURE . B Y K HALED A BDULKAREEM M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33