Word: arabism
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...sure, Obama has tried to advance the cause of peace. His speech in Cairo in June attempted to address the shortcomings of both the Muslim world and America and was viewed as a first step towards reconciliation. Obama has committed his Administration to advancing Arab-Israeli peace from his first days in office. One can argue that he has tried to end a war, as he has begun to draw down combat troops from Iraq. And as the Nobel committee noted particularly, he has attempted to reinvigorate international agreements limiting nuclear weapons. (See pictures of Barack Obama's family tree...
...Nobel is Obama's for effort only, at best. The Arab-Israeli peace process is in disarray: after eight months of concerted effort by the U.S., talks have yet to begin, as both sides are stuck on whether Israel will freeze its expansion settlements in occupied Palestinian territory (so far, it has said it won't). Relations with the Muslim world have improved, at least by the measure of international poll numbers, but they have not advanced peace (or American interests) yet: Arab states are still resisting recognizing Israel, contributing to the problems besetting peace talks there. (See pictures...
...particular, Syria and Saudi Arabia have long been on opposite sides of a deep rift in the Arab world, pitting those countries that are allied with the U.S. - including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt - against those countries and militant groups such as Syria, Hamas and Hizballah, which have opposed American power in the region and are at war with Israel. That rivalry deepened after the assassination of Hariri, who was Riyadh's main ally in Beirut, and got personal during the 2006 war in Lebanon, when Assad implied that the King and other Arab leaders who had criticized the Hizballah...
...their part, Saudi Arabia's leaders have grown increasingly worried about the rising power of Iran. The Persian and Shi'ite dominated Islamic Republic is both a religious and racial challenge to Arab and Sunni Saudi Arabia's dominance of the region, and Iran has deftly exploited the divisions in the Arab world by allying itself with radical anti-Israeli movements, in concert with Syria. With Iran's ongoing nuclear-development program - which many Arab countries suspect is a cover for producing weapons - raising those concerns to a fever pitch, Saudi Arabia has decided it can no longer afford open...
Still, in the short term, Abdullah's visit is at least a sign that the leaders of the Arab Middle East have backed away from a regional confrontation. However, with Israel threatening to shut down Iran's nuclear program the old-fashioned way - by military strikes - if an alliance of Western nations can't do so through negotiations, it's unlikely that peace will hold for long...