‘US plays vital role in Middle East’ despite misunderstandings, spokesman says

The US still plays a vital role in the Middle East despite misunderstandings that persist between the country and the Arab world, an expert said.

DUBAI // The United States plays a vital role in the Middle East despite misunderstandings that persist between them, the US state department’s regional spokesman said.

“The US is a country that historically is bounded by two massive oceans and we have only two neighbours, so we are traditionally and always have had an isolationist instinct,” Nathan Tek told the Arab Media Forum in Dubai on Tuesday.

“But despite all that, there has been a historical affinity between Americans and Arabs.”

After a poll found that 81 per cent of Americans could not identify the Arab world on a map, diplomacy experts said the region’s image in the West was distorted.

Of the more than 2,000 Americans who took part in a study led by Arab News and YouGov, 65 per cent admitted they did not know much about the Arab world and three quarters would not consider travelling to the region.

Twenty-one per cent thought the city of "Aghrabah", from the Disney animated feature Aladdin, was real and 38 per cent would endorse a travel ban from the fictional city to the US.

“Those numbers are a challenge,” Mr Tek said.

“But at the same time, I would urge people to not despair with those numbers.”

This year, US president Donald Trump banned travel to the US for citizens from seven Middle Eastern countries, including Yemen, Syria and Iraq. The US announced another ban on laptops and tablets on all non-American flights to the US from 10 airports, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar.

But Mr Tek reiterated the strength of the relationship between the US and its Arab allies, with its historic role in the region. He said Arab governments must find ways to encourage their citizens to study in the US and vice versa to learn about Arab culture.

“That’s your long-term key to success,” Mr Tek said.

“We’ve always been an open society that wants to engage with the outside world but we do it in our own special American way.

“But the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Arab governments to take up that burden to change their image because we don’t have any control over our press, so only you can tell your story best.”

Some pinned the issue on American public school curriculums.

“They are determined at a very local level and students don’t really need more than one ­semester of geography in many instances,” said Hadley Gamble, a journalist at CNBC channel.

Although about 35 per cent of Americans do not hold a passport, experts said it was not too late to change the image of the Arab world in their eyes.

“Even if they had a passport, they wouldn’t have gone to the other side of the ocean,” said Mark Donfried, director of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin. “So these are the people we should target, and education and cultural diplomacy events are very important.”

The UAE launched its Soft Power Council this week to work on a strategy for the Emirates in science, culture, technology, the economy and humanitarian work.

“I was very happy to hear about this initiative,” Mr Donfried said. “There is huge potential,” Mr Donried said of the council. “The key to success in cultural diplomacy is you need to have consistency between foreign policy and cultural diplomacy.

“Otherwise, it won’t work, and the US doesn’t have that. Germany, for instance, has been very consistent.”

He said the world was slowly starting to realise the benefits of cultural diplomacy, with China following suit. “The Arab world now needs more cultural diplomacy so we need to do more and we need to trust each other,” he added. “Cultural diplomacy has been helpful historically in peaceful relationships, in conflict zones and post conflict zones.”He said there was light at the end of the tunnel and that the UAE was in a “perfect spot” to start cultural diplomacy.

“It’s a very difficult region with many challenges and the Emirates can do more in soft power. It requires different strategies but the key thing we can do is make it harder for extremists.”