The 2009 Obama speech in Cairo has been characterized by critics as an `Apology speech.' Obama's shift in policy towards the Middle East has been to be humble, internationalist, and literally as well as figuratively to bow. In either case, among those that praise Obama or condemn him, something about the respective policies of Bush and Obama shifted. There was an attempt to use statecraft and diplomacy to restore the view of America in the Middle East.
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For example, the current regime does not see itself as repeating the mistakes of Bush; the White House talking point is that they are engaged in the `Cairo Initiative' [and] Celebrates a Year of Progress" (2010) towards the Middle East.
However, it now be documented that the Arab world hates Obama more than Bush.
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The Zogby Poll, 2011 notes that Obama's charm offensive in the Arab world has failed. After he promised to restore America's international reputation, not only does the Arab world hate America more under Obama than it did under President George W. Bush, it even hates Mr. Obama - personally - more than it detested the swaggering unilateralist cowboy from Texas.
In the Palestinian territories, where the people have rarely found a more vocal champion than in the Obama White House, 82 percent of Palestinians have an unfavorable view of the United States and they have felt emboldened to form an official coalition with the strong-horse internationally recognized terrorist group Hamas.
In Egypt, America's approval ratings have dropped since Obama's now-famous Cairo speech from 30 percent to 5 percent, and the Egyptian people are embracing the strong-horse Muslim Brotherhood as their next leader.
Obama is the president who lost Turkey. In the short time that has passed since he bad-mouthed American history and power in his speech to the Turkish parliament, Turkey's approval rating for America has dropped to 14 percent. The once-secular Turkish nation has become more radicalized and Islamist, and Turkey has gone from being the vacation destination for Israeli tourists to one of Israel's biggest threats.
There are two possible strategies to adopt--the strong horse of Bush, or the weak horse of Obama--and we can now conclude on the basis of the evidence which one has been more successful. The weak horse, apologist, internationalist strategy of Obama failed.
Cf. To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine, Melvyn P. Leffler, Oxford University Press, USA (2008):
www.librarything.com
Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World, Dennis Ross, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2008):
www.librarything.com
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