Dr. James Bill
The eight countries that border the Persian Gulf account for more than 70 percent of the world's proven resources of petroleum. All of these countries face serious political problems. Six traditional governments (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) and two revolutionary regimes (Iran and Iraq) live side by side in uneasy coexistence.
Flooded by expatriate workers, plagued
by limited political participation, torn by ethnic and religious
cleavages, and exposed to the contradictory and enticing messages
of the secular West and of their own Islamic heritage, the Gulf
peoples are unsure of their identities and are increasingly alienated
from their governments.
In Iraq, Saddam Hussein remains in control, having already outlasted
five U.S. presidents; in Iran, the superpower of the Gulf, the
extremist ripples of revolution remain to be smoothed out; in
Saudi Arabia, King Fahd's poor health indicates that he will soon
depart the scene; and in Bahrain, the regime has faced a sporadic
rebellion ever since 1994.
With the beginning of the Gulf War in 19901991, the United
States stumbled, in an unprecedented way, into the political quicksands
of the region. At war with Iraq and having alienated revolutionary
Iran, the U.S. has built its policy upon support for the six traditional
countries. These family-run mini-states are the whooping cranes
of political systems; they are an endangered species, and time
is not on their side. Meanwhile, the American eagle flies point
for these soft, obese, and sickly Gulf cranes.
Economically, politically, and morally, the costs for this policy
are high. Continuing fly-overs in Iraq by American aircraft are
costing the U.S. tax payers over one billion dollars per year.
The crushing economic embargo against Iraq has resulted in the
suffering and death of thousands of Iraqi civilians whose only
fault is that they are ruled by a political thug. According to
U.N. sources, more than 1.2 million Iraqi children under age five
suffer from chronic malnutrition. Such policy has damaged the
U.S. image across the region and across the world.
At the beginning of the 21st century, it is time for the United
States to reassess its Persian Gulf policy. Constructive suggestions
for a new Gulf policy might include the following five items:
(1) encourage the six traditional governments to open up their
political systems;
(2) emphasize a policy based on diplomacy rather than military
might;
(3) work quietly and seriously to develop a rapprochement with
the Islamic Republic of Iran;
(4) continue to push relentlessly for a peace agreement between
Palestine and Israel; and
(5) increase efforts to understand the complexities of the cultures
and traditions of the peoples of the Gulf. In particular, U.S.
decision makers must take a crash course on the realities of Islam,
a religion, civilization, and way of life that may well be the
most powerful ideological force in the world in the new century.
Dr. James A. Bill is professor of
Government and director emeritus of the Reves Center for International
Studies at the College of William and Mary. A Princeton Ph.D.,
Dr. Bill is a 1961 alumnus of Assumption. Dr. Bill is an internationally
recognized authority on the Middle East.
He is the author of seven books, including the most recently published,
George Ball: Behind the Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy. He is currently
finishing a study entitled Catholics and Shi'is: Prayer, Passion,
and Politics. Professor Bill has lectured on Middle Eastern society
and
politics at more than 100 universities and in two dozen countries.