Saudi American Forum -- United States of America Saudi Arabia Relations
This is the website that Salma provided us yesterday. If you would like to see the interview that picqued her interest, follow this link: Bernard Dunn Interview
As I browse the site I am impressed by the quantity of writing that has been posted on the matter of Saudi-American relations. Front and center today (25 October 2002) is one entitled "The United States Must Not Neglect Saudi Arabian Investment" while just below is a 3-part interview with Ambassador Charles Freeman. This link will take you to the third part which asks the question, after all that has gone before, what is to be done? What Is to be Done?
He raises interesting points on protecting the Saudi American relationship from further erosion, among them the impact. In response to a question about the factors contributing to the further damage of the relationship he has this to say:
I think the most important negative effect has been caused by changes in U.S. visa policy and entry procedures, which essentially dried up the arrival of students in the United States from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Consequently, an important part of the relationship -- the previous generation had a good understanding and sense of connection to the United States -- has suffered. The next generation will not have that understanding or that connection, not having studied here.In the business area, the difficulty of getting visas and the well grounded fear of humiliation at the border, or by law enforcement officials in the United States after arrival, or by airline crews, or by others has essentially dried up business travel. New business is not being done and old business relationships are atrophying, and exports from the region are rapidly declining.
The terrorists' focus on the American expat community in the kingdom and in the region more broadly, and various incidents like the [May 2003] Riyadh bombing plus the negative image of Saudi Arabia in the United States have significantly reduced the flow of American travelers to the region and led to an outflow of the resident Americans there.
The two countries really need to sit down and talk about how to reverse the trends that are ensuring that the basic human fabric from which the relationships have been sustained does not fray and disappear. We must ensure that the future generations of Americans and Saudi Arabians do not grow up in ignorance of each other - that they do not have negative views of each other formed by the absence of contact. These are very real possibilities.
When asked what should be done to reverse the estrangement between Americans and Saudi Arabians he responds:
[Emphases added]
It seems to me that some useful things could be done here, and some of them are really fairly simple. If the American visa system, for example, which now records three names for Arab visitors -- meaning the given name, the father's name and family name or tribal or place name -- were expanded to parallel the Saudi passport system, which has four names, mainly the given name, the father's name and the grandfather's name and the tribal or place name or the family name. Then, there would be far less confusion by computers about people who the United States ought to welcome to our shores versus people who we have a justified concern about.There are a series of technical fixes that could be worked out if the two sides sat down and talked earnestly about how to reverse current negative trends, which I think they should do.
My feeling is that there needs to be a much larger effort made by Saudi Arabians and their government on a much more institutionalized and long-term basis to build a base of understanding and support in the United States to replace the current suspicion and ignorance. There needs to be a dialogue between the two governments in the ways of reversing the current trends towards estrangement at the popular level and rebuilding the relationship.
Obviously the trend in Saudi Arabia toward openness needs to continue, such that the press here does not criticize Saudi Arabia for imaginary faults but perhaps criticizing it for things that are genuinely wrong. I think that's been the trend, and I give the government of Saudi Arabia a good deal of credit.
I should also say I've been very impressed by the extent to which Saudi Arabia, in the wake of 9/11, has engaged in introspection and taken on some tough problems that it had avoided addressing for many decades. These include cleaning up elements of its education system, not just the sexual apartheid issue of separate women's educational management system but also the curriculum.
Crown Prince Abdullah has, in effect, staked out the positions that Americans ought to applaud on a wide range of issues: the need for Arabs broadly to cease blaming others and to correct their own faults; the willingness of Arabs -- if the Palestinians and Israelis can work out a mutually satisfactory peace -- to step in with their own normalization of relations with Israel; and to buttress that, with the Arab Reform Charter. These things are very positive and represent progress.
I'm sorry to say that I do not see the same level of introspection and consideration by Americans of what it is we might do to reduce friction with countries and peoples in the Middle East. There has been no examination of our policies in the region which may have played a part in producing the threat to our own security we now confront. Actually, I think we could learn a lot from the Saudis in terms of facing up to the need to take a good hard look at ourselves and our behavior.
My initial impression: the quantity of writing is matched by the quality of thought and writing.
Thanks much, Salma!
Posted by Donald Douglas at October 25, 2003 09:57 AM | TrackBack