The American journalist Mark Hertsgaard wrote in his recent book, The Eagle's Shadow: why America fascinates and infuriates the world :
Americans need to have an honest discussion about our conduct overseas: Where it is wise? Where it is not? How often does it correspond to the values of democracy and freedom that we regularly invoke, and how important it is whether we practice what we preach? If Americans want a healthy relationship with the six billion people we share the planet with, we need to understand who those people are, how they live, what they think and why. This is not charity, it is self-interest. America may be protected by two oceans and the mightiest military in history, but we know we are not untouchable.
Hertsgaard's call is echoed in Parag Khannas recent advocacy on openDemocracy of an Interdependence Day where Americans would recognise that their independence alone no longer guarantees security, despite the vast oceans to their east and west; nor does it guarantee prosperity, despite their high levels of production. Americas stake in the deepening of global interdependence is great, and in many ways, it is up to America to shape it for the betterment of all.
Both were answered in Washington in early October 2003 when sixteen organisations, representing ideologies across the political spectrum, launched a major programme of public dialogue. The initiative, called The People Speak: America Debates Its Role in the World, is hosting over 2,000 debates and discussions about United States foreign policy throughout the month in communities across the country.
For more information about the debates, see www.jointhedebate.org.
Senator Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation (UNF) is chief spokesperson for the project. At its launch press conference, he stressed the relevance of its grass roots approach on the eve of an election year:
Both the President and the field of Democratic candidates need to be paying more attention to what is going on here in big and small cities, universities, high schools and in family living rooms across the country this month. The American people are providing American leaders and decision-makers with their thoughts, opinions, hopes and even fears about national security and our emerging foreign policy. Our biggest mistake would be not to hear them.
Four key questions for America
It was also announced that fourteen cities will host marquee events where high-profile political and academic figures will attend as moderators and debaters.
A team of fifteen at the UNF has been involved full-time to coordinate and liaise the nationwide discussions and provide debate kits to help local organisers structure their events.
There are four resolutions up for discussion:
- whether the US should use pre-emptive military force to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction;
- what conditions should exist before the US takes part in military intervention overseas;
- whether America should focus more on non-military issues like the environment, poverty and health;
- whether America should demonstrate a stronger commitment to international institutions and international law.
A cycle of ignorance and hostility
The debates are timely. A panel chosen by the White House has just reported that hostility towards the US has reached shocking levels among Arabs and Muslims around the world and left the country vulnerable to lethal threats unless it improves its image. The United States Advisory Group on Public Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World warned that the war in Iraq and the intensified conflict in the Middle East had increased anger at the United States, and that people throughout the world were ignorant of or misinformed about American policies.
This panel was led by Edward P. Djerejian, an Arab specialist and former ambassador to Syria. Its thirteen members including academics, diplomats and writers travelled to the Middle East, Asia and Europe over several months, surveying American efforts to promote the United States views to the worlds 1.5 billion Muslims.
The committee found that the state department spent about $600 million last year on its programmes to advocate American policies, and $540 million more for the Voice of America and other broadcast networks; yet, as Djerejian says in an interview with the New York Times: You know, Woody Allen said 90% of life is just showing up. In the Arab world, the United States just doesn't show up.
The report cited the June 2003 survey carried out among 16,000 people in twenty countries (including eight predominantly Muslim nations) by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. This found that Americas image in the Islamic world has fallen dramatically over the past two years, with less than 15% of respondents from Turkey to Indonesia reporting favourable impressions of the United States overall. The same survey found that a sharply growing percentage of Muslims sees the US as a serious threat to Islam.
The poll paints a mostly negative picture of America, its people and policies. The People Speak project is seen as one step in reversing this. In Senator Wirths words:
Historically I think the rest of the world views Americans as being insular and I think we are relatively insular with a big ocean on either side. I think 9/11 changed a lot of that Ive never seen a process like the one we're setting up here in my forty years in American politics. It shows people really are interested and I hope there is a reflection (in) the rest of the world that, yes, we are interested (in how we are seen).
