T im A kin • by
Distinguished Speaker
Roadmap to Challenges in the Middle East Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian Outlines U.S. Security and Economic Interests
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s a young Foreign Service officer in Beirut in the 1960s, Edward Djerejian was the first American diplomat to meet with the Imam Musa al-Sadr, a charismatic and moderate Shi’ite leader who was an advocate of interfaith dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews, and became the voice of the oppressed Shi’ite people living in poverty in southern Lebanon. “That movement he started in Lebanon morphed in 1982 when the Israelis invaded southern Lebanon and radicalized the Shi’ites—and Hezbollah was born,” Djerejian explained to a capacity audience in June as a Dean’s Distinguished Speaker at the Graduate School of Management. That early experience shaped Djerejian’s perspective on the volatile Middle East. He went on to become the only American to serve as U.S. ambassador to both Israel and Syria and one of the nation’s most distinguished statesmen. Serving eight U.S. presidents, he played key roles in the Arab -Israeli peace process; the U.S.-led coalition against Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait; successful efforts to end the civil war in Lebanon; the release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon; and the establishment of collective and bilateral security arrangements in the Persian Gulf.
Today, Djerejian is founding director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, where he met Steven Currall, now dean of the GSM, who introduced his friend at the event co-hosted by the UC Davis Institute of Governmental Affairs. Djerejian deftly dissected the complexities of the Middle East and the interconnected web of political, security, economic, religious and ethnic realities that have created the world’s most militarized region.
“There is a very seminal struggle of ideas going on, a struggle for the hearts of minds of the Muslim people,” Djerejian began his talk. “U.S. administrations, be they Republican or Democrat, must realize that we can influence that struggle, but we cannot dominate that struggle or try to be the catalytic force on which way it’s going to go. It’s for the Muslims to determine in each region and each country. “U.S. policy should be to direct everything we do to enhance the moderates in the Muslim world and marginalize the extremists,” he advised. Djerejian shared his research on solving the Israeli-Palestinian territorial conflict, and praised President Obama’s outreach and the work of his Middle East envoy, former Senator George Mitchell. “The whole task of diplomacy is engaging your adversaries,” Djerejian said. On the war fronts, he said diverting attention and resources from Afghanistan to Iraq has left the U.S. military to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda without the expertise or capacity to do serious nation building. “Now we have a policy in Afghanistan that is being debated and it’s unclear that we will be able to extricate ourselves with any real positive results.” Meanwhile, Djerejian said, the U.S. and its allies must pursue a policy of nuclear containment against Iran. “You are not dealing with a group of madmen in Teheran. They are as smart as and as calculating as foxes,” he said. “They are not suicidal. Their interests are to stay in power and consolidate their power.” And with no end in sight to global hydrocarbon demand, Djerejian said stability in the oil-rich region is crucial: “The stakes are truly high.” Citing a study by two fellows at the James A. Baker III Institute, he explained that today’s Middle East oil curse is spilling into the international financial system. “Unanticipated petro-dollar flows are fueling financial bubbles, financing a Middle East arms race and damaging the global economy through speculative oil price feedback loops.” Education and economic diversification have suffered as regimes have spent some $3 trillion—much of it oil profits— on armed conflicts over the past six decades. Djerejian said more than half of the 350 million people in the 22-member Arab League are younger than 25 years, making it the world’s fastest-growing labor market. Yet unemployment is at 15 percent and half of the jobless are under 25 years old, while 65 million are illiterate—two thirds of them women. “With the young demographic,” he said, “education is the catalyst for growth of these economies in a sustainable manner.” View the video of Ambassador Djerejian’s talk @
>> www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/ambassador 2 6 • Fa l l / W i n t e r 2 010