Andrew Sullivan thinks that, once again, Obama is dancing the right steps w.r.t. foreign policy, particularly the parts that deal with potential rogue nuclear powers. His conclusion after Obama's public accusation of Iran this morning:
... can anyone say that the isolation of Iran has weakened under Obama?
If you add to the mix the critical factor of the Green Revolution, then the West's position vis-a-vis Iran has improved immensely in the last eight months. And if you believe that Obama's Cairo speech was at least a positive factor in helping bring that about - then the promise of the Obama era in American foreign policy begins to take shape.
Weakness? There is sometimes more strength in projecting confidence rather than bluster, and seeking cooperation rather than ultimatums.
I agree with Sullivan that being a negotiator rather than an aggressor is not a weakness. However, Sullivan is missing a genuine weakness, albeit one which is situational and forced upon Obama from without:
Americans don't give a used Kleenex about the rest of the world. Never did, never have.
Every time Obama does something right in foreign policy, another five people join the groups to protest and picket and generally become domestic obstructions. Every time Obama even acknowledges that there are problems in the world outside America which we might need to take part in solving, someone inside America will accuse him of neglecting the only problems that matter to most Americans.
Half the country right now is convinced that the reason they can't find work, never mind the real causes, is because of "them goddamn immigrants." This is not a climate which is receptive to trying to correct relations with Middle Eastern states, or dealing with the problems of the more rabid elements of radical Islam.
If Obama goes down in history as a man with a brilliant foreign affairs record but who could not bring back prosperity, he will be considered a failure in America. Our policy has always been: Let the rest of the world rot unless they threaten us in any meaningful way, in which case destroy them.
I frequently wish we were in the middle of Europe, where we'd be unable to avoid facing the fact that we have neighbors on this planet.
In Europe, the problem of Islam is not just an abstract comment. Here is a fascinating article from The Economist about the problems of a teacher in Antwerp who had the best intentions in the world, brought down by an extremely trivial matter.
Most schools in Flanders are state-funded but church-run (and pretty secular in outlook). All schools have been left to craft their own rules on headscarves and, in recent years, Antwerp's schools began banning religious clothing, leaving just three that allow scarves - among them the Atheneum. Ms Heremans soon noticed Muslim girls moving to her college. Between 2006 and 2008 the proportion of Muslim pupils at the Atheneum rose from half to 80%.
"At the beginning, I didn't see a problem," she explains. But then, a number of "very conservative" families moved their daughters to the school. By 2007 about 15 girls came to school wearing all-concealing robes and gloves, with only their faces showing. Ms Heremans confronted them. "I said: 'You're stigmatising yourselves. You're breaking with society by wearing those clothes.'" The girls replied that she was stigmatising them. Pupils began donning longer scarves. Others started covering up at school, even though teachers saw the same girls walking in the streets unveiled. When questioned, such girls said they felt uncomfortable at school without head coverings. In 2007 it proved impossible to organise a two-day school trip to Paris - a longstanding annual treat for 15-year-old pupils. "Suddenly it was a problem for girls to stay overnight. Their older brothers had to come too," Ms Heremans says. Most of all, an oppressive, "heavy" atmosphere hung over the schoolyard.
On September 1st Ms Heremans reluctantly reversed herself and banned headscarves at her school. This triggered some nasty protests, including threats from a small clutch of hardliners. The results have been serious: about 100 of the school's 580 pupils have left. Local politicians have raised fears that some may not get an education at all. On September 11th the Flemish education board banned religious symbols in all 700 secular state schools under its control, including the Atheneum. (Religious schools remain free to set dress codes.) It was the opposite of what Ms Heremans once sought, she admits. "But now I feel supported." Some older girls quietly thanked her, saying: "You've no idea of the pressure we were under."
Yet it is not just fiery conservatives who have condemned Ms Heremans. "Boss of my own head," or BOEH in the Dutch acronym, is a feminist group with a mixed Muslim and non-Muslim membership. Its members protested outside the school with whimsy, turning up with sieves and toys on their heads. A spokesman for BOEH, Samira Azabar, says that schools are making it harder for Muslim girls to be "emancipated" through education. She is probably right. Other Antwerp schools banned scarves on the ground of equality but in reality, says Ms Azabar, they wanted to repel pupils from poor backgrounds who might pull them down academic league tables. Ms Azabar dislikes the idea of all-Muslim schools, thinking them bad for integration in the community. But barring scarves "doesn't help girls"; in her view, Ms Heremans has "given up the battle."
I think that the sooner we face the sort of matters that Europe is facing now (the above is only one skirmish in a long series of battles), the better, because the problem will only get worse. Please understand, I am not suggesting we are at war with Islam. Far from it. The Muslim population of the world is too diverse to generalize that way. There's parts we're fundamentally never going to coexist peacefully with, and parts that are pretty cool. But the point is that we are going to have some cultural adjustment to do; sooner or later, we are going to have to reach some new equilibrium of coexistence, because the Muslim populace of the world is not going to go away, is not going to stay in the hellholes where it originated, and can outpace us easily. So better make it sooner, not later.
Another Economist article, about the rise of halal merchants in Europe:
Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, launched a new range of products just in time for Ramadan. Casino, a French supermarket chain, has a halal line, and British outfits Tesco and Sainsbury's carry halal products. KFC, an American fast-food chain, is conducting a trial of halal food in eight of its British restaurants. All its French ones are already halal certified.
The main reason for growth is demographic. Although many European countries do not tally Muslims or any other religious group (estimates in France range from 4m to 7m) it is clear that Muslim populations have grown quickly as a result of immigration and higher birth rates. Many of the people who sought asylum in Western Europe in the first half of this decade were Muslims from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. Mohammed, Muhammad and Mohammad were all among the 100 most popular baby boys' names in England and Wales last year.
Although Muslims are disproportionately poor, they spend plenty of money on food. Islam is associated with a strong tradition of communal feasting. Antoine Bonnel, who runs the Paris Halal Expo, reckons that the average French Muslim spends a quarter of his or her income on food, compared with 12-14% for non-Muslims.
Nearly a third of the money goes on meat. That demand, which contrasts with a drop in meat-eating among health-conscious Christians and godless folk, has helped transform the global livestock market. The slaughtering of all lamb and goat meat in Australia for export is now done in accordance with halal custom, which involves killing animals with a single cut and draining their blood. A tenth of Australia's total meat exports, worth about $570m a year, is halal.
If you don't think you will ever have to deal with the culture shock of a massive infusion of Islam in your own life or community (unless you live in the sort of place where such people are openly vilified, abused, shot, run out of town, etc, which is a separate set of problems), I suggest you follow the money.
Settsimaksimin:
an Economist article usually means i'll get my copy in the mail tomorrow...
the section of the university campus where i work is directly adjacent to the Minneapolis neighborhood with one of the highest concentrations of (predominantly Muslim) Somali immigrants in the city. there are problems with acceptance and integration, but it can be difficult to tell how native-born white Minnesotans actually feel about it because of the 'Minnesota nice'. i think it's good that the local community is getting to face these issues now and it's fascinating to watch them play out.
on my way into work i pass by at least four markets advertising halal meats (now i'm curious about their meat supply chain). one of the servers at the Thai restaurant i'm heading off to for lunch let us know last week that they're thinking about making sure that most of their menu is halal.
-- 18:58, 25 September 2009 (BST)