TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Obama and the Muslim world: So far so good

RIZAL SUKMA Change is seriously underway in the United States

Rizal Sukma (The Jakarta Post)
JAKARTA
Mon, February 2, 2009

Share This Article

Change Size

Obama and the Muslim world: So far so good

RIZAL SUKMA

Change is seriously underway in the United States. President Barack Obama immediately went into action after he was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. Promises that he made during his campaign have now begun to be implemented.

For the Muslim world, President Obama’s swift decision and action to close the notorious Guantanamo prison serves as the most encouraging sign that a new era in US-Muslim world relations would finally arrive. After eight years of strained relations, many in the Muslim world expect that the new president would finally make it possible to have a normal relationship with the United States.

Changes in style, and even in substance, in US policy toward the Muslim world are not unexpected. During his campaign, he repeatedly made promises that, if elected, he would approach foreign policy differently than his predecessor. He promised he would listen more to others. He also promised he would restore diplomacy to its rightful place in US foreign policy.

More importantly, he promised that the United States would work more with other nations.

Even though many were convinced of his sincerity, the swiftness and the pace by which President Obama moved forward to fulfill his promises is unprecedented. His decision to close the Guantanamo prison on the first day of his presidency has already been loudly applauded in many capitals. His decision to give his first television interview to Al Arabiya, a major Arabic-language channel based in Dubai, and deliver a conciliatory message to the Muslim world, underscored his sincerity further.

President Obama declared “Americans are not your enemy” and admitted the United States “made mistakes in the past.” He then went on to say that he saw no reason why “the partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago” could not be restored. This is clearly a clean break from past approaches that often created an image of an arrogant America.

Signs of change have also begun to emerge in other areas of US policy toward the Muslim world. With regard to Iran, for example, President Obama has made it clear his administration is willing to talk to Teheran without any preconditions. While the impasse in US-Iran relations is not easy to break, it is at least refreshing to see that diplomacy will be given a chance in dealing with Iran. Hopefully, Iran will respond to the United States’ positive gesture in the same way.

On the most delicate issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is not clear yet how the new US

administration might resolve the problem, and how far or how swift the change might be. What has transpired so far is the willingness to engage in diplomatic efforts to bring the two conflicting parties to the negotiating table. Here, we hope that President Obama would work tirelessly to bring peace to the region and make the two-state solution a reality.

He surely understands that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would serve as the foundation for a stable Middle East. A fair and just resolution to the conflict would also accelerate the restoration of the US image in the Muslim world. A sovereign Palestine state would remove a major stumbling block in US-Muslim world relations.

Of course, more concrete deeds are needed before we can conclude the United States may be able to win back respect from the Muslim world. It is also too early to say whether US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will change in a fundamental way. However, let us admit that, when it comes to his approach to the Muslim world, so far so good.

What about Indonesia? Sure, we are the country with the largest Muslim population on earth. But, Indonesia has not featured prominently in President Obama’s early diplomatic moves.

Indonesians certainly hope President Obama may choose Indonesia as place to fulfill his campaign promise to deliver a major policy speech on the Muslim world. However, many also believe such a hope may not be fulfilled.

Indeed, Indonesia should be patient. We should not fantasize that President Obama’s past ties to Indonesia would automatically put Indonesia at the top of US foreign policy priorities. Foreign relations are not based on sentimental considerations but on realistic calculations of national interests.

In the meantime, let us hope President Obama will see and treat Indonesia not only as the country with the largest Muslim population on earth, but also as a fellow democracy. If Indonesia is seen through those eyes, perhaps he may wait until November to deliver the much-awaited speech on the Muslim world when he comes to Jakarta before or after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Singapore.

The writer is the deputy executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.

{

Your Opinion Counts

Your thoughts matter - share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.