A new dialogue

Obama’s visit needs to set a new tone in the dialogue between the USA and the Middle East. Obama needs to acknowledge the mistakes that America has made in the Middle east and what take a much more conciliatory tone on the issues that matter to Arabs. Rosemary Hollis, of the Chatham House thinktank says "It's important he speaks to Arabs to convince them he wants genuine change. If he wants to turn things around for America, he's got to get on the front foot and show them that he represents a new, clued up, plugged in administration."[[ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/29/middle-east-speech-obama ]]

A dialogue and a new tone if all very well but it will not be helpful if it is not backed up. As Rami Khouri writes "Obama should stop wasting his and our time telling us how much Americans admire Islam, and instead focus on two things: clarifying whether the United States understands the legitimate grievances of ordinary men and women in the Arab-Asian region -- most of whom are Muslims -- and positioning the United States on a policy path that helps to reduce rather than aggravate those grievances."[[Rami G. Khouri, Obama should think Chicago, 3rd June 2009, http://www.ramikhouri.com/]]