The Foreign Service Journal, November 2008

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 n the final days of the last century, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright described the United States as “the indispensable nation.” “We stand tall,” she claimed, “and we see further than other countries into the future.” She did not seek the views of any foreigners on either point. It is not recorded that many — if indeed any — agreed with her. What she said was, of course, music to American ears. But what we and non-Americans thought at the time of her smugly bumptious articulation of our self-regard is now moot. The policies the United States adopted in the first decade of this century have thoroughly refuted her theses. A great many foreign governments now fear that Washington will behave like the ever-self-congratulatory cartoon character Mr. Magoo, who wanders destructively through a reality he misperceives wreaking havoc he determinedly misinterprets as success. Take the Middle East, for example. This is the region that, in one way or another, has been the principal focus of American foreign policy in recent years. It is also the region in which the United States has most consistently shown a preference for bluster, boycotts and bombs, and a concomi- tant disdain for diplomacy. I am not speaking here simply of Iraq or Iran. We have refused dialogue and attempted to dissuade Israel from negotiating with Syria. We have done the same even more adamantly with Hezbollah (which, as a consequence of the U.S.-sponsored Israeli bombing cam- paign of 2006, became the leading force in Lebanese politics). Meanwhile, in the name of bolstering Lebanese inde- pendence from political interference by Syrian and Iranian outsiders, we have vigorously interfered in Lebanon our- selves. We have repeatedly proclaimed that it would be a sin to talk with Hamas (which, thanks to elections we insisted take place, is now the democratically empowered governing authority in all areas of Palestine not directly occupied by Israel). We have tried hard to congeal Sunni Arab antago- nism to Shiite Persians into an Arab bloc we hope will join us in ostracizing and punishing Iran, which the Israelis and we repeatedly threaten to assault from the air. These U.S. policies have not gone over well. Recent developments strongly suggest that they have resulted in decisions by all concerned in the Middle East to work around the United States rather than with us or through us. Consider Israel’s resort to Turkey (rather than U.S. “shuttle diplomacy”) to manage proximity talks with Syria. Or Lebanon’s turn to Qatar to broker the peaceful realignment of its politics, notwithstanding our investment in them. Or A MERICA IN THE W ORLD : M R . M AGOO AT THE H ELM F AR FROM PROVIDING DIPLOMATIC LEADERSHIP , THE B USH ADMINISTRATION ’ S MYOPIA HAS WREAKED HAVOC ON THE GLOBAL STAGE . B Y C HAS W. F REEMAN J R . Chas W. Freeman Jr., a Foreign Service officer from 1965 to 1994, was ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992, and deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires in Beijing (1981-1984) and Bangkok (1984-1986), among many other overseas postings. He also served as principal deputy assis- tant secretary for African affairs from 1986 to 1989 and as assistant secretary of Defense for international security from 1993 to 1994. Ambassador Freeman has been, inter alia, chairman of Projects International, Inc,. since 1995 and president of the Middle East Policy Council since 1997. He is the author of The Diplomat’s Dictionary (revised edition) and Arts of Power , both published by the United States Institute of Peace in 1997, and of numerous articles on aspects of American statecraft and diplomacy. I