You have that right -- but it comes with real responsibilities, and that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization."Not very controversial words, you might say. Except that these words are coming from the president of the United States. In a video address last week, President Barack Obama emphasized American "respect" for the Iranian nation. He included in his speech an ending in Farsi to greet the Persian new year. He also praised the Persian poet Saadi for his vision of brotherhood and peace. And most importantly, President Obama made a point of speaking to the "leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran" and the "great people of Iran."
Now, that's what I call "real" public diplomacy. This is more than just smart outreach. It is also smart policy. It amounts to genuine "change" and reflects a radical departure from the mindset and discourse of the previous American administration. Only a few years ago the person sitting at the same White House used to refer to Iran as part of an "axis of evil."
President Obama gets it. He seems to have understood that what most Iranians demand from America can be summarized in just one word: "respect." Respect, one must admit, is a very abstract concept. Yet it is also easily recognizable in someone's attitude and language. Obama gets it because he sees the need to show respect to rivals like Iran not only as a public diplomacy tool but as a more effective policy. In his first proper television interview as president, Mr. Obama told the Al Arabiya news channel that, in approaching the Middle East, "the language we use has to be a language of respect." Obama clearly understands that language and style reflect one's mindset. This is much more than public diplomacy,
Indeed "respect" seems to be the overarching theme of the Obama administration in its dealings with thorny foreign policy issues. A couple of weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was using the same method in China, where she repeatedly emphasized her respect for the Chinese people. Russia, too, must be pleased to get its fair share of American respect. Washington now wants to "reset" relations with Moscow with a new willingness to listen. It was also not lost on the Russians that Clinton, in her first meeting with Sergey Lavrov, her Russian counterpart, chose Geneva, a frequently used location for superpower negotiations during the Cold War.
All this radically differs from the practice of the past eight years. The Bush administration often seemed proud of treating its European allies, let alone it Eurasian rivals, with disdain. There was an unmistakable sense that President Bush and the neoconservatives adhered to the "might is right" doctrine. And they seemed to be inspired by Roman Emperor Caligula's old maxim "Let them hate us, so long as they fear us."
Obama sees things differently and understands very well that humiliated nations are also dangerous nations. The politics and psychology of humiliation are particularly relevant for the Middle East. Islamists often appeal to a deep sense of cultural humiliation and resentment in the Muslim world. Such a sense of humiliation is easy to exploit in the discourse of anti-Americanism. Yet, now, it is the new leadership in Washington that exploits the weakness of the anti-American discourse but shows a sense of American humility in approaching the region. Obama is on the right track to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. One can only wish that Israel would also learn the virtues of modesty and humility. This may be wishful thinking given the new direction of Israeli politics. Last week, Tel Aviv also conveyed a message to Iran on the occasion of Nevruz. But the words of Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, called on Iranians to overthrow their government and rejoin the "family of enlightened nations." So much for smart outreach.
