Can Obama’s visit to the Middle East change Arab perceptions of the US?

“Democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, those are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries — but rather what I believe to be universal principles that they can embrace and affirm as part of their national identity.”[[Jamer Hider, Barak Obama on landmark mission to rebuild ties with the Muslim world, The Times, 3rd June 2009, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6418576.ece]] Indeed this is the case so long as the west is NOT forcing these principles onto these states, the USA must accept that the interpretation the middle east gives to these values will be determined through their own cultural norms and as such may end out slightly different to how we in the west see them. The ideal would be for the end point to be an Islamic set of values about democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech and freedom of religion so that the Middle East can lay claim to having created its own path without being forced down it by the United States.

Those who supported the previous administration such as Elliott Abrams, George W. Bush's deputy national security adviser argue "There is a danger that under the general guise of not wanting to be like the previous administration, there is going to be significantly less emphasis on a freedom agenda and the promotion of democracy."[[Etgar Lefkovits, Obama won't focus on Middle East democracy, Jerusalem Post, 9th Febuary 2009, http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1233304721069]] Obama may well stop promoting these values that are as relevent to the Islamic world as to the west. This would be a step in the wrong direction as these values and freedoms are one of the major ways in which the US is seen in a good light in the middle east.