Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

1. Cosmopolitan Engagements

1 COSMOPOLITAN฀ENGAGEMENTS Cosmopolitan฀Engagements 1 As฀I฀am฀writing฀these฀lines,฀sitting฀at฀my฀desk,฀U.S.฀foreign฀ ฀฀policy฀in฀the฀Middle฀East฀has฀already฀unraveled.฀Afghanistan ฀is฀witnessing฀the฀resurgence฀of฀the฀Taliban,฀Iraq฀is฀ disintegrating,฀Iran฀is฀at฀loggerheads฀with฀the฀West,฀Syria฀has฀ retreated฀further฀from฀democracy,฀Hezbollah฀and฀Hamas฀have฀ captured฀the฀imagination฀of฀the฀Arab฀world,฀and฀conflict฀in฀the฀ Sudan฀is฀producing฀a฀nightmare฀for฀Darfur.฀Anti-Semitism฀is฀ witnessing฀a฀rebirth,฀chauvinism฀and฀provincialism฀are฀on฀the฀ rise,฀and฀religious฀intolerance฀is฀again฀contesting฀the฀Enlightenment ฀legacy.฀U.S.฀foreign฀policy฀in฀those฀Islamic฀states฀gripped฀ by฀crisis฀(or฀the฀prospect฀of฀crisis)฀now฀consists฀of฀little฀more฀ than฀calls฀for฀economic฀sanctions฀or฀threats฀of฀military฀action.฀ Most฀of฀the฀world฀looks฀with฀dismay฀at฀the฀results฀of฀American฀ interventions฀in฀Afghanistan฀and฀Iraq,฀the฀threats฀directed฀ against฀Iran฀and฀Syria,฀the฀United฀States’฀uncritical฀support฀ for฀Israeli฀policy฀in฀Palestine฀and฀Lebanon,฀its฀disregard฀for฀ human฀rights,฀and฀what฀has฀become฀its฀open฀contempt฀for฀ the฀will฀of฀the฀international฀community.฀As฀a฀result฀of฀all฀this,฀ the฀standing฀of฀liberals฀and฀moderates฀in฀the฀Middle฀East฀has฀ declined,฀fragile฀states฀have฀become฀more฀fragile,฀terror฀has฀ been฀embraced฀as฀a฀legitimate฀tactic,฀and฀the฀Unites฀States฀has฀ been฀left฀without฀genuine฀diplomatic฀influence฀on฀any฀regional฀ actor฀other฀than฀Israel.฀The฀Bush฀administration฀has฀opened฀a฀ Pandora’s฀box฀through฀its฀self-righteous฀posturing฀and฀its฀belief฀ 2 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH that฀democracy฀can฀be฀imposed฀by฀a฀policy฀of฀“shock฀and฀awe.”฀ The฀United฀States฀has฀contributed฀nothing฀toward฀resolving฀the฀ regional฀conflagration฀sparked฀by฀the฀discrete฀political฀crises฀ and฀ideological฀conflicts฀discussed฀in฀this฀book. Introducing฀the฀need฀for฀a฀different฀approach฀is฀the฀purpose฀ behind฀Peace฀Out฀of฀Reach.฀As฀in฀so฀many฀other฀fields฀of฀inquiry,฀ however,฀the฀general฀interpretation฀of฀foreign฀policy฀has฀made฀ way฀for฀empirical฀and฀relatively฀technical฀works฀dedicated฀to฀ examining฀the฀crisis฀of฀the฀moment.฀This฀trend฀has฀had฀a฀debilitating ฀impact฀on฀public฀discussion฀and฀the฀development฀of฀ a฀strategic฀intelligence฀among฀the฀citizenry฀at฀large.฀Indeed,฀ even฀when฀a฀more฀general฀perspective฀is฀provided,฀it฀usually฀ comes฀in฀the฀form฀of฀a฀huge฀tome฀that฀is฀undoubtedly฀consulted฀ episodically฀rather฀than฀read฀through฀with฀care.฀Either฀brevity ฀or฀clarity฀is฀sacrificed.฀Here,฀by฀way฀of฀contrast,฀I฀hope฀to฀ provide฀a฀broad฀perspective฀and฀a฀set฀of฀interconnected฀studies ฀pertaining฀to฀the฀symbolic฀and฀practical฀politics฀generated฀ in฀the฀Middle฀East฀that฀are฀readable,฀empirically฀grounded,฀ speculatively฀realistic,฀and฀politically฀to฀the฀point. Peace฀Out฀of฀Reach฀is฀equally฀informed฀by฀my฀academic฀research ฀and฀activism.฀Originally,฀my฀scholarly฀concerns฀revolved฀ around฀the฀European฀labor฀movement,฀fascism,฀anti-Semitism,฀ and฀Western฀political฀theory฀beginning฀with฀the฀Enlightenment .฀I฀learned฀much,฀and฀my฀work฀on฀these฀themes฀shaped฀ my฀political฀worldview.฀My฀interest฀in฀the฀Middle฀East฀grew฀ following฀the฀terrorist฀attack฀of฀9/11,฀the฀assault฀on฀Afghanistan ,฀and฀my฀anger฀with฀the฀misguided฀policies฀of฀the฀Bush฀ administration.฀That฀interest฀was฀only฀intensified฀by฀my฀visits฀ to฀Iraq—prior฀to฀its฀invasion฀by฀the฀United฀States—as฀well฀as฀ to฀Iran,฀Syria,฀Israel,฀the฀Occupied฀Territories,฀and฀the฀Sudan .฀My฀experiences฀influenced฀the฀chapters฀devoted฀to฀each฀ country,฀if฀only฀because฀my฀travels฀had฀a฀political฀component.฀ I฀participated฀in฀what฀has฀been฀termed฀“citizen฀diplomacy,”฀in฀ 3 COSMOPOLITAN฀ENGAGEMENTS which฀delegations฀of฀American฀citizens฀meet฀unofficially฀with฀ governmental฀officials,฀representatives฀of฀nongovernmental฀ organizations,฀and฀intellectuals฀from฀nations฀fearful฀of฀belligerency ฀by฀the฀Bush฀administration.฀This฀activity฀in฀conjunction฀ with฀Faculty฀for฀Israeli-Palestinian฀Peace฀and฀groups฀associated ฀with฀Conscience฀International฀during฀my฀visits฀to฀Iraq,฀ Iran,฀and฀Syria฀resulted฀in฀the฀writings฀included฀here,฀as฀well฀ as฀statements฀and฀petitions฀that฀may฀not฀have฀shaken฀the฀world฀ but฀were฀read฀and฀signed฀by฀tens฀of฀thousands฀of฀Americans. Neoconservatives฀and฀even฀some฀mainstream฀liberals฀ criticized฀my฀colleagues฀and฀myself฀for฀aiding฀the฀enemy฀and฀ meeting฀with฀politicians฀who฀had฀blood฀on฀their฀hands.฀Little฀ did฀it฀matter฀that฀these฀trips฀were฀undertaken฀with฀no฀external฀ financial฀backing฀or฀that฀we฀prided฀ourselves฀on฀our฀independence ฀from฀the฀U.S.฀government฀as฀well฀as฀from฀the฀states฀and฀ officials฀we฀visited.฀Some฀partisans฀of฀the฀Right฀insisted฀that฀ the฀very฀act฀of฀visiting฀rogue...