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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2009, page 59 Diplomatic Doings A Conversation With Prince Turki
THE NATIONAL Council on U.S. Arab Relations (NCUSAR) hosted a “Conversation with Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud” at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC on Dec. 2, 2008. During Prince Turki Al-Faisal’s tenure as ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States, from Sept. 13, 2005 until Feb. 2, 2007, he made many friends as he traveled the country talking to everyday Americans in 37 states. His efforts to rebuild his country’s image in the United States was essential following the attacks on 9/11. Before he left he pledged to take a break from his new duties at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh to keep up the dialogues. As promised, this past fall Prince Turki returned to co-teach a graduate course entitled “Politics of the Arabian Peninsula” at Georgetown University with NCUSAR director Dr. John Duke Anthony, and speak at numerous events. The Washington Post published Prince Turki’s op-ed entitled “Peace for the Mideast: How Our Plan Could Aid Barack Obama’s Efforts,”on Dec. 26, 2008, soon after his return to Riyadh. The first global issue the new U.S. president will face is Palestine, Prince Turki predicted during his Dec. 2 “Conversation” with a large DC audience. There are other important issues which affect the whole world, including the economic meltdown, Prince Turki agreed, but Barack Obama has promised to tackle Palestine in his first term instead of waiting until the second, which is traditional. President Obama doesn’t need to “invent anything new or wait for divine intervention,” Prince Turki said. All the mechanisms and plans and proposals—the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, Oslo, Annapolis, U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338—already are on the table, he pointed out. Thus there is no need to initiate a new process. “What we want is implementation,” Prince Turki explained. “It’s the right thing to do.” He suggested Obama appoint a special Middle East envoy to remain “on the ground,” with full authority to negotiate and implement a peace agreement. Turning to another global problem, the “suspicion and mistrust between Iran and the rest of the world,” Prince Turki said that Iranians believe they are being singled out and isolated, whereas other countries have developed nuclear weapons and faced no repercussions. Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Kingdom’s foreign minister, has suggested setting up one enrichment facility to serve all Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, to defuse the confrontation with Iran. The best solution, according to Prince Turki, is to level the playing field by declaring the Middle East, including Israel, free of weapons of mass destruction and assuring security for each country. Turning to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, Prince Turki noted that these lands have resisted foreign invaders for thousands of years, and resent U.S. interference. Nation-building doesn’t work by force of arms, he advised, nor is there one solution for all countries. “People won’t accept the ‘Made in America’ label,” he said. After the invasion of Iraq, Prince Turki continued, the Kingdom proposed that contiguous countries get together to see how they could help Iraq recover. Saudi Arabia proposed manning a field aid hospital and various other services. These offers turned out to be too dangerous, he explained, because when a Saudi national enters Iraq he becomes a kidnapping target. That hasn’t stopped Saudi Arabia from encouraging its neighbors to make peace, however, and think of themselves as Iraqis rather than Sunnis or Shi’i. Thanks to Saudi efforts, Sunni and Shi’i clerics got together in Mecca in 2006 to issue declarations against sectarian violence, Prince Turki noted. The Kingdom is ready to play a role in resolving other conflicts, in Kashmir and elsewhere, and to share intelligence and expertise to prevent terrorism. King Abdullah is working to promote inter-religious dialogue and encourage the middle ground in order to fight extremism in the world. “Centrifugal forces suck other nations into conflicts,” Prince Turki concluded. The Middle East is hoping for the best when President Obama takes office. —Delinda C. Hanley |
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