Expectations from President Obama’s Cairo Speech

From taxi drivers to high-ranking bureaucrats; from university students to renowned political analysts, everyone in the Arab and Muslim world seems to be waiting for June 4 – the day when President Obama is expected to address the Muslim world. Student exams scheduled for June 4th have been postponed at the Cairo University, the venue for President Obama’s speech. This is not the first time that President Obama would approach the followers of Islamic faith with the objective of clarifying the U.S. policy towards the ‘Muslim world’. Since the inception of his term, President Obama is attempting to re-define America’s diplomatic outreach in an effort to reverse the tide of anti-Americanism among the Muslims across the world. So what makes the June 4th speech so special? To me it’s the burden of expectations. From open letters in leading newspapers of Egypt to op-eds by scholars of international affairs everyone has a list of dos and don’ts for President Obama. Though we cannot appropriately anticipate what President Obama will say we can examine what the Arab and Muslim world expects him to say.

[AP Photo/Ben Curtis]

Obama is being seen as the New Tutankhamun of the World.
For Anwar, a taxi driver in Cairo, President Obama’s visit is merely an occasion for taking a break from his daily driving errands. Anwar is planning to take a day off on June 4 as the roads would be over-crowded following the high security arrangements. As for the speech Anwar’s approach is cynical. According to Anwar “What message and what speech? And what will we do with his words when Iraqis are being killed and when Israelis are killing Palestinians?”
For many others the most optimistic aspect of the speech would be the fact that it’s Obama and not Bush who is delivering the message.
Obama’s rhetoric of changing perceptions is expected to be supported by concrete policies.
President Obama is expected to single-handedly convince the Muslim population across the world about the sincerity of American intentions. In the words of White House spokesman Robert Gibbs “The speech will outline his personal commitment to engagement, based upon mutual interests and mutual respect.”  This burden of expectations is even graver given the perceptions about President Obama’s family background. “I feel I can relate to Obama. He’s African and his father is Muslim”, remarked a graduate student at Cairo University.
Osama El-Ghazali Harb, one of the founders of Democratic Front Party in Egypt, presents an impressive three-point agenda for Obama’s speech in an open letter published in the Daily News of Egypt. For Harb, Egypt should be treated more than a mere podium for President Obama; it should be one of the targets of his speech. The first agenda for the speech, according to Harb, should be the continued support for democracy and freedom in the Arab and the Muslim world. The choice of Egypt as a venue for addressing the Muslim world is seen by many as an endorsement of Hosni Mubarak’s autocratic rule. Thus many fear that the Obama Administration might sacrifice the cause of democracy for the sake of strategic interests. Harb hopes that President Obama will speak not on behalf of a Christian or Western civilization but rather on behalf of a democracy and human rights respecting U.S.  The emphasis of President Obama’s speech should not be to convince the American amity to the Muslim world but clarify the U.S. intolerance for extremist and fundamentalist overtones of Islam.  This differential treatment of Islam has also been strongly suggested by Amitai Etzioni.
For Shadi Hamid, Director of Research for Project on Middle East Democracy, President Obama will be addressing two sets of audience during his speech – one the political leadership of Egypt which has a dubious democratic record and second the common people who hope that President Obama will further the cause of democratic freedoms in the Muslim world.
According to Ayman Nour, the famous reformer and opponent of Mubarak, “Thursday”s speech is going to be a turning point…It”s either going to be a chance for him to reach out to support the people who supported him or it”s going to be a time that he takes into consideration regimes and parties that are hated by the people.”
Among the diverse expectations from President Obama’s much awaited speech one common element can be discerned. For the majority President Obama’s credibility and seriousness of purpose will be gauged by the extent to which he approaches this issue both in rhetoric and policy – the Arab-Israel conflict. President Obama is expected to outline a new and serious American initiative to resolve the long-standing dispute in the Middle East. A fair solution to the Palestinian cause is the first key to win the trust of Arabs and Muslims who consider this cause the major reason for the negative image in the region towards America.
The expectations from President Obama’s June 4th speech are indeed high. It is hoped that President Obama will help in altering mutual perceptions by re-designing American policies towards the Muslim world. In the vast multitude of expectations President Obama faces two primary challenges. First, he has to skillfully appeal to the various segments of the non-monolith Muslim world. Second, he has to be realistic without being disappointing.