Editor-at-large of the Beirut Daily Star, an English-language newspaper,
Khouri is also a contributing commentator for the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) and National Public Radio (NPR). Born in New York
City, he maintains dual citizenship (US and Lebanon) and has worked in
the Middle East for nearly four decades.
Khouri argued that since the 9/11 attacks, the American media’s coverage of
the Middle East and its issues has been superficial. In his estimation, it
lacks depth and overlooks both the larger historical context and patterns
of interaction between the Arab world and Western societies, including
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
As a result, media portrayal of reactions to US foreign policy in the Arab
world damages ambitions for democracy and autonomy. Khouri said the
history shows that since 1920 external powers have attempted to shape the
lives and national boundaries in the Middle East, “ignoring the selfdetermination
and identity of indigenous groups.”
But unlike in the last century, the Arab world today is defiant. The lesson
of Iraq, he says, is not only that its people are fighting back but also that “they
represent widespread resistance to the US creating a new regional order.”
He maintains that for Iraq to have a stable and self-sustaining government,
it must originate internally and not be imposed by a foreign country—a
scenario that currently makes Iraq a “magnet” for training terrorists.
US foreign policy is not entirely moving in the wrong direction in
Khouri’s eyes, pointing to the American role in resolving tensions
between Syria and Lebanon as the model for its ambitions in the region.
By working with other countries and through the United Nations, “the
US intervened in a way that seems credible and legitimate” and should be
emulated in the future.
“The current trends look pretty awful for the US, the Arab world, and
Israel,” he concluded, “but we still have hope.”
Ronald Litke
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