Can America Solve the Middle East Crisis?
conclusions today in the Middle East shrouded by the brutalities of irrational war? That may seem an odd question to ask, given the assumptions that the consensus in the Middle East is more pro-American than it looks. Nevertheless, there is a bigger, more important question: is this all out war against Lebanon in the name of Hizbollah a chance for America to play an active and influential role in the Middle East? To draw such conclusions would be tempting, but premature. America will always face a dilemma in the Middle East: wanting to engage in the region and to influence it constructively, but valuing a certain distance and freedom of action. That is why the sudden action taken by the Bush administration, by sending US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Middle East, most probably to initiate a negotiated ceasefire, and moreover by announcing its own $30m package to ease the suffering of civilians, has been applauded from all fronts. Moreover, it has been reported by the media
By Bhuwan Thapaliya In 1920, H.G.Wells published his Outline of History. It was meant to awaken people to the realization that only a rationally ordered world state would save humanity from destroying itself. But how secure are such conclusions today in the Middle East shrouded by the brutalities of irrational war? That may seem an odd question to ask, given the assumptions that the consensus in the Middle East is more pro American than it looks. Nevertheless, there is a bigger, more important question: is this all out war against Lebanon in the name of Hizbollah, a chance for America to play an active and influential role in the Middle East? To draw such conclusions would be tempting, but premature. America will always face a dilemma in the Middle East: wanting to engage in region and to influence it constructively, but valuing a certain distance, and freedom of action. That is why the sudden action taken by the Bush administration, by sending US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to
