During the US presidential primaries last spring and summer, representatives of then-candidate Barack Obama visited the Middle East and quietly met with representatives of governments and other organizations to explore attitudes and desires regarding the region's relationship with the American government. Whatever the details of individuals' complaints about the ineptitude of the Bush Administration in its dealings with the Middle East, the top attitude that was communicated was that the region was not being taken seriously and that its representatives were largely ignored. The message to the Obama camp seems to have gotten through and that was emphasized again yesterday when President Obama's interview on Al-Arabiya TV was broadcast via satellite around the region. In the interview, he called for – as he did in his inaugural speech – a relationship “based on mutual respect and mutual need.” As he spoke, his new envoy to the region, George Mitchell, was on his way for his first visit to the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel where he has been told by President Obama to “start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.” With barely a week gone by, President Obama has changed the tone of US diplomacy from one of “gunboat diplomacy” to that of intellectual and political engagment. By this time in the Bush Administration, George W Bush had broken off peacemaking efforts between Israel and Palestine and suspended talks with North Korea. In a very short time, President Obama has shown that it is, indeed, not “business as usual” in the White House and that the great hope put in Barack Obama may to some extent actually be justified. We have no doubt that the president will eventually find himself in a situation where he will call on American military might to resolve it and provoke the ire of, at least, some of the world. Of course, everyone is always happy when they start a new job and more often than not, employers are initially happy with their new hire. But there seems to be something special about President Barack Obama. There always has been and we hope there always will be. __
