Is Obama's Middle East Agenda Realistic?

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In The Media

Is Obama's Middle East Agenda Realistic?

President Obama's recent address to the Muslim world dissapointed many democracy promotion supporters, who felt it did not strongly address the issue.

By Michele Dunne

Published on Jun 5, 2009

Source: The New Republic TV

President Obama's recent address to the Muslim world dissapointed many democracy promotion supporters, who felt his speech did not strongly address the issue. As Michele Dunne explains, "This is very much a contrast with President Bush who promised a lot of support for democracy in the Middle East and promised, for example, support for activitsts who would be imprisoned by their governments... President Bush learned over time that it was very difficult to deliver that and it was very difficult to square that with some other U.S. interests. Obama is now trying to take a more low-key approach. In other words, to articulate his support for democracy as a general principle; not to directly or indirectly criticize any of the governments. The Obama people are saying that they are going to pursue this issue but a lot more quietly than Bush did."

About the Author

Michele Dunne

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Recent Work

Research
Islamic Institutions in Arab States: Mapping the Dynamics of Control, Co-option, and Contention
- +6
  Yasmine Farouk, Nathan J. Brown, Maysaa Shuja Al-Deen, …
Research
From Hardware to Holism: Rebalancing America’s Security Engagement With Arab States
- +8
  Robert Springborg, Emile Hokayem, Becca Wasser, …

Foreign Policy North America United States Middle East

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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