Middle East violence requires a middle road approach

A story in the Washington Post does a fine job of explaining what the recent spate of Middle East violence against the West is really all about. It is a historical struggle within Islam to come to terms with its wounded pride in the face of modernity. It is about the struggle between the younger generation that sees what the West has to offer and wants it on their terms vs. the older generation that wants none of it.

In the face of all of this is the question that America in general and the American President in particular always faces: what should we do? The real question often is: what can we reasonably expect to accomplish even if we do nothing?

The pendulum often seems to swing to one of two poles: direct intervention or indirect intervention. The former usually involves some kind of military action. The latter vague promises of moral support and a willingness to stand behind ‘the people.’ Neither of these seems to do much good on their own. Modern American diplomacy suffers from a lopsided approach to the world. The Defense Department budget dwarfs the State Department budget. We speak much too softly (and often badly when we do) and carry a huge stick.

The truth is that America can’t solve the core problem within the Muslim world. Only the Arab Muslim community can do that. When one looks at United Arab Emirates in general, and Dubai in particular, one can see the imperfect outlines of a solution in the making. As a Persian Gulf state that has had to reimagine itself as a post-oil nation, it has turned itself into something rather different. It has a long way to go but it is finding its own accommodation with the modern world.

But the other truth is that America is stuck in the Middle East and it is stuck there for the long haul. It is the single most influential nation in the region and has made a significant investment there. Post-War Europe may be the closest example to what lies ahead in the Arab Muslim world. Under an American security umbrella, Western Europe rebuilt but chose a unique path to prosperity and its member nations retained their own flavors. America will need to be patient while the Muslim world figures itself out. 

Until then, we would be best off taking a middle road that sets meaningful boundaries while providing wide latitude and much of the details to be determined locally. Whatever solution appears, the population of the Muslim world must sincerely believe they created it and adopted it from the bottom up, rather than having it imposed from the top down.