The U.S. needs a more even-handed policy regarding the Palestinian problem, needs to distance itself from unpopular, undemocratic regimes, and work towards energy independence so that we can disengage ourselves militarily from the Middle East. We need to engage in a more realistic foreign policy, acting on what is, not what we would like things to be.
The key to better relations with all the Arab states and the Arab "man in the street" is an even-handed approach that recognizes legitimate Palestinian grievances and promises a two state solution. The Saudi proposal (which has been accepted by all the major Arab states) to recognize Israel and normalize relations on the basis of a two state solution, with Israel abandoning its settlements and returning to its pre-1967 boundaries, should be the policy pushed by the U.S. We should guarantee those boundaries and promise to aid Israel should her territorial integrety be threatened. We should also say that any non-retaliatory WMD attack on Israel will be considered the same as an attack on the United States. In return for the Palestinians giving up their "right of return", they should be gifted all the domiciles built by the Israelis on the West Bank and money currently being suppliied to Israel for military aid should be shifted to the Palestinians, with one-half going in the form of direct payments to Palestinians and one-half going to development projects in the new state of Palestine. In addition, we should greatly reduce military aid to our allies Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and close almost all of our military bases in the area except for a few military training missions and maybe a couple of listening posts.
The fact is, if there were no oil in the Middle East, it would be of no strategic importance to the United States. We should strive for energy independence through the development of alternative energy so that Middle Eastern oil is not of great importance to us. This will also allow us to disentangle ourselves from the corrupt Saudi royal family. I am convinced that some day they will be overthrown and it is best that we not be identified with them when that happens. Likewise, the increasingly repressive Mubarak regime in Egypt is another government we should disassociate ourselves from. We should seek to promote democracy in both states but, if as likely will happen, those states make no moves to broaden their bases of popular support, we should move away from them before they become albatrosses around our neck.
We should push Israel to negotiate with Syria over the return of the Golan Heights. The outlines of a deal are clear: in return for the Golan Heights, to remain demilitarized while under Syrian control, Syria would agree to stop funding and supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Syria should also agree to reduce its involvement in internal Lebanese affairs. In return, not only would it get the Golan Heights and normalized relations with Israel, the U.S. should pledge giving monetary aid to Syria for a limited time period (such as three years) with the promise that the period could be extended if Assad opened up the society and allowed more freedom and participation by his people in the political system.
In short, we should associate ourselves with the promotion of democratic principles but not insist on or require them. We should not become closely associated with regines that do not promote democratic principles. We should not intervene in the internal affairs of the area's nation states and not support any state in the area which intervenes in the internal affairs of another of the area's states. We should promote regional organizations. We should disentangle ourselves from the region and engage in a neo-isolationist policy.
The biggest obstacle to this policy will probably be Israel and the Israel lobby. With the election of the latest government, it seems very unlikely that Israel will be ready any time soon to accept such a solution. Even worse from our point of view, our internal pro-Israel lobby will make it extremely difficult for the U.S. government to put any pressure on the Israeli government. However, this is what we must do because the solving of the Palestinian problem is not only the key to Mid East peace, that and our subsequent withdrawal from the area is key to diffusing Muslim terrorism against the United States. I believe that if we were to follow and implement these policies much of the terrorist threat will dissipate.
During World War II, Britons used to grouse that there were three things wrong with American soldiers: they were overpaid, oversexed, and over here. And these were our closest allies! Our presence in the Middle East is several orders of magnitude worse than what the English complained about. This is definitely one case where absence will make the heart grow fonder. If we remove ourselves from the Middle East, our popularity there will probably soar.
Next, what we should do about Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan.
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