I would like to seize the opportunity of the theme of this conference tohighlight some of the flaws which taint and constrain American foreign policyin the Middle East and, more generally, in the Muslim world. I do so with thepurpose of exploring the possibilities for a change which would be to the advantageof all parties concerned, for while I believe that America’s Middle East policyis largely prompted by considerations of national self-interest and expediency,and that these might be subsumed under the category of ‘‘greed,’’ there still remainsa recurrent undertone and preoccupation with a moral self-justification that seeksgrounds of justice and right for all its pursuits. Beyond greed and morality,however, the determining factor for both dimensions is contingent upon ourperceptions, conceptions, and the ideas we have concerning the Other as wellas about what constitutes our own best interest and our particular morality. Thecontrols on our perceptions and self-understanding lie in a kind of treasure chestwhich we inherit or, to use a current idiom of the micro-chip generation, theylie in a floppy disk which lies in the eye of our mind. Whatever it is that we inherit,it comes not so much with our genes as with our cultural legacy, which istransmitted primarily through the process of our socialization. While suchperceptions may be decisive in shaping our attitudes towards the situations weencounter, they are not necessarily permanent, for acquired attitudes which havebeen learned can also be unlearned, although this is often a more complicatedprocess. In the realm of attitudes to the Muslim world, I feel that Americansare encumbered with a heavy legacy which lies at the root of the many enthusiasmsand complacencies which have time and again been reflected in American foreignpolicy and in American reactions to events in that region ...
The 12th century seismic paroxysmin the Middle East: a historical perspective