U.S. State Department's Dialogue with Arab-Americans: Better Late than Never

A Successful Beginning
By James J Zogby
Gulf News: November 20

With the Middle East in turmoil, the US State Department convened a two-day meeting for Arab-American leadership last week. Over 100 community leaders from across the US responded, some travelling great distances at their own expense to participate in the sessions. Eleven state department officials participated, leading briefings and discussions on topics ranging from Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, to US public diplomacy efforts and initiatives promoting democracy and reform.

Contributing to the tension was the fact that this was the US administration's first such mass outreach effort in years. But despite expressions of real frustration, the presentations were substantial and respectful and the discussions that followed were, as well. If there was frustration in the room, there was also goodwill. The fact that the state department organised the meetings and brought senior diplomats to provide briefings and engage in discussions was significant.

Also important was the fact that many, though not all of the presenters, made it clear that they genuinely wanted to hear what the community leaders had to say. The Arab-Americans who participated not only wanted to share ideas, they also sought to offer themselves as a bridge between the US and the Arab world. Towards that end, they put forth several important ideas as to how to improve US outreach and public diplomacy efforts.

In addition to these discussion items, there were other lessons which, though unspoken, came through loud and clear.

1) US policy in the Arab world is in deeper trouble than some policy-makers either understand or can admit. Listening to the comments by many prominent Arab-Americans, it should have registered that if this group is frustrated with US policies, then, how much deeper must the frustration be in the Arab world? And if they were so adamant in their belief that a real policy change is desperately needed before public diplomacy efforts can succeed, then how much stronger must that sentiment be in the region?

2) Observing how the attendees responded to different presenters, another lesson became painfully clear: if you talk at or dictate to people, refusing to listen to them or admit even self-evident problems, people will talk back at you. But if you engage with understanding and respect, then real dialogue can take place. This, of course, is a lesson not only for how some US officials deal with Arab-Americans and the Arab world, it also applies to how some Arabs and Arab-Americans deal with American officials.

As it was, those diplomats who addressed the conference and respectfully demonstrated that they were open to an exchange of ideas were greeted with a respectful exchange. Those who were not only provoked a negative response.

3) For understanding to occur, relationships must be cultivated. Neither Arab-Americans nor the State Department were well served by the failure during the past several years to convene more regular meetings. The State Department could have done more, but the community's efforts can be faulted as well, since despite progress made, Arab-Americans have so much more to do in the area of political empowerment.

What also became clear in the discussions was how important it is for the State Department to recognise Arab-Americans as a resource, for ideas and for outreach assistance. Several officials made this point and follow up work must now be done to concretise this recognition.

4) Finally, this meeting established that despite internal complexities, Arab-Americans are a cohesive community and deserve to be treated as such. This recognition is important, in and of itself. For a number of years, there were some ideologues working within the administration who sought both to deny this reality and to impose their own definitions on the community. Specifically, denying that an "Arab-American" community existed, they did attempt to convene other outreach efforts under the rubric "Middle Eastern".

The meetings of the past week, even with the frustration, can be deemed a successful beginning. What must now occur is to build on this effort and the lessons, I hope, we are all learning.