<html><div style='background-color:'><P>Loai,</P>
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<P>Most would agree that blaming the zionist lobby for our troubles is circumventing the real issue, which is our failure to adequately represent ourselves in decision-making centers around the world (to borrow the expression from a friend). The tremendous amount of influence Israel has gained in places that matter warrants our respect, and we should strive to replicate that as soon as possible--instead of bickering, which is what we are good at.</P>
<P>More importantly, all things remaining equal, gaining any influence in centers of power would have a marginal effect at best. The author failed to make an important distinction between Israel and Lebanon: There is cohesion on Israeli policy absent from the Lebanese. The Israeli position is unified with Israel's security at its cusp. The Lebanese position is far from unified, at home or abroad. Lebanese political analysts, depending on their orientation, would create confusion. A pro-Hezbollah analyst would be pushing a different agenda than a pro-FM analyst, and etc......................</P>
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<P>The author failed to make an important distinction between the Lebanese and the Israelis in that foreign policy is cohesive with Israel's security at <BR><BR></P>
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From: <I>"Loai Naamani" <loai@MIT.EDU></I><BR>To: <I>"'LCM Articles'" <lebanon-articles@MIT.EDU></I><BR>Subject: <I>[LCM Articles] Has Lebanon been shut out from the corridors ofpower in Washington?</I><BR>Date: <I>Thu, 16 Nov 2006 19:59:44 -0500</I><BR><BR>
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<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=manchettebig21><B><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt">Has Lebanon been shut out from the corridors of power in Washington?</SPAN></FONT></B></SPAN><BR><EM><B><I><FONT face=Verdana color=black size=1><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Think tanks play vital role in giving voice to emigrants in the formulation of foreign policy</SPAN></FONT></I></B></EM><BR><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><A href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76924">http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=76924</A><BR></SPAN></FONT><BR><STRONG><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#666666 size=1><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 8pt; COLOR: #666666; FONT-FAMILY:
Verdana">First Person Nadeem G. Maasry</SPAN></FONT></B></STRONG><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The Daily Star</SPAN></B><BR><SPAN class=red1><B><FONT face=Verdana color=#9c0b0b>Thursday, November 16, 2006</FONT></B></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">No sooner do the drums of war start reverberating in the Middle East than analysts of every background in the West begin their own "war" of prognostications and proposed solutions. Most of these analysts appear to be motivated by emotions and ideas that draw on their own narrow experiences, or theories derived from models utilized only because they address each analyst's own narrow view of the problem. The sad reality is that many of these ideas do not correspond to the facts on the ground. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Meanwhile, the decision-making process in the United States, a country whose population has just passed the 300 million mark, continues to become more complicated and problem-ridden. Having less than 5 percent of the total population of the world and yet contributing close to 30 percent of the planet's gross domestic production, America has not been able to resist becoming involved in the affairs of every single country. As a result, a system, a machine-like web structure had to be developed to enable America's policy managers to confront changing world circumstances on a daily basis. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I will limit myself to the perceived impact of this "policy-making structure" on Lebanon's current situation. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Considering that Lebanon is endowed with a fairly high level of Western-educated intelligentsia and a relatively significant reservoir of sympathy in America, the question is whether Lebanon has been well-represented in the inner halls of Washington. In other words, have the Lebanese been involved to an important degree in formulating any of the options being considered by US foreign policy decision-makers relative to the Middle East, and more recently to Lebanon itself? Judging from the events of this past summer, the short answer is no. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">A good number of Lebanese who are unaware of how badly missing their input has been from the centers of power in Washington have often wondered why the United States, so steeped in technology and so successful in the management of government and business, could come up with a foreign policy that could produce an Iraq-style failure. Perhaps a knowledgeable and analytical visit to Washington, which has become even more directly involved than ever in the Middle East after September 11, 2001, would help explain the seeming anomaly. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Three aspects of Washington's foreign policy decision-making process detract from an independent, consistent and sustainable foreign policy in the Middle East, where the particular and organic relationship that binds the US and Israel acts as a shunt to an even-handed American stance in the region. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">If we are to consider the White House as the ultimate decision-making center, or more accurately, the inner sanctum where the choice is made among a number of foreign policy options, then we are looking at a leadership under President George W. Bush that has been weakened on several political and economic fronts and which opted to compensate for this deficiency by enhancing its presidential powers through an ongoing war on "terrorism" in the guise of added security for the American people. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This leadership found itself in need of an increasingly complex system for the management of political, economic, military and security affairs in a globalized world. As a result, a system of overworked staff and advisers has developed over the years that works like a mega-computer, requiring, by definition, a number of functionaries, highly specialized in their respective fields, performing mechanically like cogs in an Orwellian machine. Yet, the leadership's overall vision, reconciled with an American concept of a melting pot, seems unable to grasp the composite structure of the different nations of the world, with differing cultures and anthropological traits. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">It becomes less puzzling, then, why the minions who keep the decision-making process going, no matter how smart and sincere, find themselves oscillating between theories of grand design for a "world order" of democracies and the day-to-day requirements of putting out fires in an unpredictable and changing world - a situation better known in the White House as crisis management. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Ironically, America, rich with well-to-do expatriates from every corner of the world who have successfully found the "land of opportunity," has proven unable to reap maximum benefits from the local knowledge of citizens of foreign extraction. Many of these emigres left behind birthplaces in which they found discord, while others became too mainstream American to be able to discern the old realities of their countries of origin. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Lebanon</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> is not so different: Given that a good number of the commercially minded successful immigrants come from humble backgrounds in which they were excluded from an active role in a basically feudal political system, their climb up the American ladder distances them even further from Lebanon's age-old political intricacies. Inadvertently, they have contributed at times to US policies that stood at variance with Lebanon's current national interests. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This decision-making system found itself inadequate to handle a multitude of world problems, including situations which may not have reached critical proportions, and inevitably had to look for "outside help." Many observers around the world, and particularly in countries like Lebanon, have come to believe that the outcome of America's foreign policy has been mainly influenced by lobbyists and pressure groups. In this regard, they fail to comprehend the significance of the role of outside advisers and think tanks in the formulation of strategic options presented on a systematic basis to the decision-makers, and especially those in the White House where time, pay and man-hours are limited. Once habituated to this independent input, the decision-makers who solicit outside advice on a continual basis have become reliant on this advice.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Even the Europeans, who have developed impressive centers for political and economic research, do not always distinguish between an American think tank and their own policy research institutes staffed with renowned professors and esteemed research workers. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">A well-placed Washington think tank, by contrast, would normally have among its staff former White House employees and others from the different branches of government, the military and the various intelligence agencies. A good number of them use the think tank as a convenient quarter where they "hang their hats," meet one another and bide their time while they wait for an administration change and hope to get back into a role more directly involved in policy making. If they leave for jobs on the West Coast, for example, they risk being forgotten at the center of power in Washington. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Normally, their being on the "outside" would afford them a platform to express more openly and freely their points of view. With few exceptions, however, the think tanks and other private non-lucrative foundations are in constant need of funds and donations. It follows that these institutions are hindered by the demands of the donors who give tax-deductible contributions with specific topics and special interests in mind. It is perhaps in this area of an ever-mushrooming activity - not to call it a business - that the Lebanese and Middle Easterners in general, with the noted exception of the Israelis, find themselves unable to compete. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">At the same time, the American media have found it convenient to publish and reproduce articles on foreign affairs contributed by self-appointed experts who use the umbrella of one foundation or another to promote their captive ideas. The result: a cacophony of voices confusing the American reader, as well as the decision-makers. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The US State Department, with its worldwide network of embassies and employees, has been weakened in recent years due to a number of factors. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In a "dangerous" world where many US embassies have become virtual fortresses under siege, qualified young Americans find it more interesting to work for multinationals with more benefits and a higher salary than serve their country as diplomats in insecure areas of the world with less compensation. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">This "attrition" in the number of good American representatives has been mostly felt in Islamic and several other developing countries. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Historically, the State Department had been more immune to the influence of private interests and pressure groups, primarily because its untainted sources of information derive directly from its own functionaries based around the world. Once it came under serious challenge by a White House bent on using foreign issues for local political gain, this role diminished. Similarly, the various intelligence agencies find themselves less independent of the whims of an administration that has managed to heap the blame for recent policy failures on these same agencies. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">As a consequence, a weakened secretary of state now functions in the good graces of a White House, which in turn has become addicted to the use of foreign policy experts, even though many of these experts happen to have particular agendas. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In a sense, this dependency of the secretary of state, as well as the White House, on a system that resembles a mega-computer reduces the qualities and requirements for leadership. Increasing criticisms, therefore, of the president and his team as being light-weighted, or, for example, completely one-track minded in the Middle East, do not take into account that they have become more like drivers conducting a sophisticated machine, and that, when under pressure, their decisions are but the "resultants of forces," to borrow a principle from mathematics. </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In the absence of high-level Lebanese input into this complex policy machine, is it any wonder that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last July that she was unable to see why she would visit Lebanon on her peace mission to the area, notwithstanding the fact that the purpose of her travel was to help negotiate a cessation of the war in Lebanon?</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=articletext><EM><I><FONT face=Verdana color=#2a2a2a size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Over 35 years in the United States, Nadeem G. Maasry, a Lebanese banker, served on the Brookings Institution's Business Advisory Council, the Center for Strategic Studies' Quadrangular Forum and the Washington Quarterly Economic Roundtable. The author wishes to dedicate this article to the memory of the late George N. Frem, who, in his unrelenting efforts on Lebanon's behalf, understood the inner workings of the American foreign policy system and the significance of Washington's think tanks.</SPAN></FONT></I></EM><FONT size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV><BR>
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