Back to Top

Wednesday October 24, 2012

Zogby on the Debate: The U.S. Role in the Middle East

Posted by Omar Tewfik at 12:07 pm

AAI President James Zogby was a featured guest yesterday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.” Jim joined Brookings fellow and former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, and former Congresswoman Jane Harman, who now serves as director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, to discuss the third and final presidential election which focused on foreign policy.

An overwhelming portion of the debate centered on US-Middle East relations, and in addition to critiquing the candidates’ performances, Jim also discussed the degree to which the United States should be intervening in the Middle East in light of hieghtened anti-U.S. sentiment and political unrest. “We can help with job creation and investment; we can help with building capacity and infrastructure,” he said, emphasizing the point that the US can’t direct the outcome of events in the Middle East, but can play a supporting role.  

Throughout much of the campaign process, Mitt Romney has criticized the president for his lack of leadership in the region, appearing to be more hawkish on issues pertaining to the Middle East. In contrast, during the debate this Monday, Romney rarely disagreed with the president on many of his current policies on key issues in the Middle East. Despite what seems like a shift in Romney’s rhetoric throughout the campaign toward a more moderate approach to the Middle East, Jim expressed doubt that Romney would indeed pursue a more tempered course with regard to US policy in the region. “I would suspect that the Mitt Romney that we saw for the last two years is the one who would go to the oval office,” he said.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tagged as Issues, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, US-Arab Relations, Yemen, Posted by Omar Tewfik, Yalla Vote, Election Central

blog comments powered by Disqus