Al Arabiya Interview

President Obama today set quite a precedent by granting the first exclusive television interview of his presidency to the Arabic-language satellite news network Al Arabiya. The session underscores the importance he ascribes to dealing with the combustible Middle East and represents a bold personal attempt to change the dynamic of America's relations with the region. You can read a summary and the entire transcript of Obama's interview with Hisham Mehlem here.

Obama's timing and message are meant to convey a new American face to a Muslim audience, a face etched with respect and goodwill. Obama made this clear by directly stating, "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy." He made sure to speak of his Muslim father and middle name and his history of living in Muslim countries, including the largest (Indonesia).

He and Mehlem agreed that al Qaeda, by levelling political attacks against Obama even before he took office, showed they were "nervous" about him. When asked why, Obama responded by saying, "What that tells me is their ideas are bankrupt." He said they have never improved life for Muslim people anywhere, mentioning such things as "education and health care," and pointed out one of the messages of his Inaugural Address, "you will be judged on what you have built, not what you've destroyed. And what they have been doing is destroying things. And over time I think the Muslim world has recognized that that path is leading nowhere, except more death and destruction."

His specific peace idea: negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians to produce a two-state solution, is certainly nothing new. What he hopes is new is his ability to be seen as an honest broker the Arab side can trust. He said, "America was not born as an imperial power, and the same relationship of respect that we had as recently as twenty years ago, we want to reconstruct that."

There is no doubt Obama is seen more positively by Muslims than George W. Bush was. There is an identity factor there, and the absence of his predecessor's insensitivity (referring to a "Crusade") and belligerent swagger, combined with actions such as the prospective drawdown from Iraq, closing Guantanamo and pledging to follow humanitarian principles and international law should open some doors. Al Qaeda and similar extremists must indeed be concerned about Obama's enhanced credibility in their backyard and his potential for turning people away from recourse to their brand of fanaticism.

In the volatile Middle East, though, that is no guarantee that problems will be resolved. It could conceivably even rebound to strong resentment against Obama in the region if progress does not come as fast as some may hope. Still, given the ham-handed and ineffective course the U.S. has followed in recent years, the chances will improve. In the confounding Middle East, that is often the best one can do. The possibility of progress will have a chance to glimmer again, if "inshallah," the time is right.