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Measuring Actions, Not Just Attitudes: A New Paradigm for U.S.-Arab Relations

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Pollock with Cole Bunzel and Curtis Cannon - This project is not about polls, pundits, or public opinion, or about media and official rhetoric. Rather, it asks: What has been the record of actual Arab behavior toward the U.S.? Conventional wisdom is completely wrong about U.S.-Arab relations during the past decade. Measured by objective behavioral criteria, relations with almost all Arab governments - and almost all Arab publics - improved steadily and strongly after the Iraq war's first year. Did Arab states cut their overall trade ties with the U.S. or their purchases of American weapons? Did Arab publics turn away from traveling or studying in the U.S. or buying American brands? Did Arab streets explode with anti-American demonstrations? Did Arab countries turn against political or economic reform when such reforms were promoted by Washington? And have the much higher Arab approval ratings for President Obama and the U.S. as a whole translated into any concrete improvements in Arab interactions with America? The evidence presented in this report demonstrates that the answer to all of these questions is "no." We need a new paradigm for understanding U.S.-Arab relations - one that emphasizes actions much more than attitudes.
2010-07-05 08:38:08
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