What citizens of other countries are reading about the Middle East.
By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINEThe White House(photo credit: REUTERS)THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE ARE NOT LISTENING TO WHAT IS SAID Al-Shorouq, Egypt, January 9There are certainly many accusations that could be made against the United States, but the following isn’t one of them: that Washington is plotting against the Arab world. This is because plotting involves secretly designing and executing a plan.However, if there is one thing American foreign policy has taught so far it is that the United States is not very good about keeping its plans secret. When the American administration plans on doing something, it always announces its intention first. This policy has been visible in the case of Syria, where President Obama explicitly claimed that the United States would remain uninvolved. Indeed, despite the heavy human toll inflicted upon the civilian population of Syria by Bashar al-Assad – including the use of chemical weapons – President Obama refrained from intervening militarily on the ground.The problem with our anger at the United States’ foreign policy is, therefore, not the result of American deception or dishonesty, but rather with our failure to listen to what is explicitly said to us.Take another example. In 2005, then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice spoke of allowing a “creative chaos” to unfold in the Middle East. According to this doctrine, the United States would allow its biggest enemies in the region – namely, Iran and Hezbollah – to immerse themselves in difficult wars that would weaken them. Accordingly, the lack of American assistance to its closest allies during the Arab Spring revolutions was simply a continuation of this “creative chaos” policy in the region; not a blindside.Here, too, we wouldn’t have been surprised had we listened more carefully.Therefore, if there is anything we can learn from our mistakes it is this: we must listen more carefully to what the Americans are saying. We might not like what we hear. We might not agree with it. But at the end of the day, the Americans play by the book.What they say is what they do – nothing more, nothing less. The ball is in our court. – Faisel al-Qasem TRUMP’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MEDIA Al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, January 13American presidents have always had a hard time with the press. This was the case with president Bill Clinton, who was repeatedly accused by the media of conducting illegal business activity in his home state of Arkansas, as well as of his involvement with Monica Lewinsky.Like him, President Barack Obama faced repeated allegations about his alleged place of birth as well as his religion. And, today, President-elect Donald Trump is facing a similar barrage of attacks – mostly regarding his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and previous sex scandals that he has been involved with.The difference with Trump is that he does not seem wise enough to understand how the media work. He believes that his bellicose and belligerent manners will tame the media and reduce their negative coverage of him. But so far the opposite proved to be true: the more aggressive Trump is, the more negative his coverage becomes.Trump will have to navigate these stormy currents with the press. Like every other public figure, let alone the US president, he will be subjected to constant scrutiny and coverage. His advisers seem determined to maintain a hard-line relationship with the press, in which Trump belittles journalists and delegitimizes entire news channels and newspapers. Therefore, we are in for a few rocky years.Trump’s years as president will likely see heated debates between the administration, the press and civil society organizations. Eventually, one of them will give in. The question is who will win this battle.– Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed A NEW ERA OF SAUDI-LEBANESE RELATIONS? Al-Okaz, Saudi Arabia, January 11Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who was elected to office only two months ago, made his first state visit this week and chose to begin his tour with a visit to Riyadh.This is an important decision. Relations between the two countries – Saudi Arabia and Lebanon – have reached an all-time low in recent years. The Saudi administration did not like Lebanon’s cooperation with the Iranian and Syrian regimes and decided to freeze all foreign aid programs to Beirut, worth well over $4 billion in total.This was not all. In recent months, tensions between Lebanon and other Gulf countries flared as well. The United Arab Emirates, for example, sentenced several Shi’ite religious leaders associated with Hezbollah to death, in an attempt to demonstrate its seriousness in fighting the radical Lebanese group. Aoun’s visit this week, therefore, sends an important message to the Arab world. It demonstrates the new Lebanese regime’s seriousness in maintaining close ties with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf despite existing tensions.In several join press conferences held during the visit, both Prime Minister Aoun and Saudi Foreign Minister Al-Jubeir expressed their willingness to work together in order to advance diplomatic solutions to the situation in Syria. This is an important development.Lebanon has been facing severe internal splits that left it with a two-year political deadlock. Aoun was finally elected as prime minister, thanks to the backing of Hezbollah. Now he needs to prove his loyalty and his commitment to Lebanon’s stability.By choosing to visit Riyadh he is signaling that Lebanon will not become a proxy state serving Tehran’s commands, but rather an independent player in the regional arena. This is a blessed move; one which brings some prospects for optimism in upcoming years.– Mashari al-Zayidihttp://www.themedialine.org/
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store