Patrick Seale spiega sul giornale panarabo al Hayat perché gli arabi sono già a disagio con un’amministrazione, quella di Barack Obama, che non si è ancora insediata e che deve ancora fare le ricerche del personale.
“The appointment of Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff and Hilary Clinton as Secretary of State – both known for their pro-Israeli leanings — has served to dampen expectations of a radical change of policy.
Nevertheless, there is a sense that some change is unavoidable and must come. In Washington, the neo-conservatives, who had shaped President George W Bush’s Middle East policies, are out of power and on the defensive. The new team will have much to do clearing up the wreckage caused by these ideologues, and restoring America’s battered authority and reputation.
No one imagines that Barack Obama will adopt Bush’s policy of backing aggressive right-wing forces in Israel on such highly contentious issues as West Bank settlement expansion, the 2006 war in Lebanon, and the siege of Gaza. Nor is Obama expected to follow Bush in refusing to talk to Iran and Syria, and in demonizing resistance movements such as Hizballah and Hamas as ‘terrorist’ organisations.
The expectation in the region is that Obama’s team will be more open to dialogue, and more even-handed than its predecessor. But the real concern is that it will attempt to bring piecemeal solutions to Middle East’s conflicts, rather than grasping that they are all inter-linked and will need a global settlement”.