April 16, 2007

U.S. Foreign Policy: Knowing the Factions Would Help

Although it is hard to admit at times, especially by those who follow the news regularly, keeping track of all the political factions, groups and organizations is challenging at best. I find it tricky remembering the names of all the Democratic presidential hopefuls, thus it goes without saying that mixing up the Tamil Tigers with the Shining Path is customary.

When the U.S. started to make serious plans for the invasion of Iraq a few years ago, most Americans, and sadly most of their leaders, found out that there is more than one distinctive group of Muslims.

News media devoted much attention to this fact, and point-by-point fact sidebars graced almost every story about Iraq both in print and on television. While it was much needed, the scramble to catch us up revealed our widespread ignorance of a culture with which we were about to enter into a close long-term relationship.

Yet religious factions in Iraq are just a case in point. The lack of knowledge about the key players in key conflicts is a sure way to misjudge the situation. I am not suggesting that because the U.S. has an important relationship with the European Union it is imperative for us to familiarize ourselves with specific party systems. Some may argue that complexity is not an excuse, but concerns over intricate and convoluted partisan politics should first be addressed to the Italians.

Nonetheless, even a basic familiarity with the participating group can change our entire perception of political events. Take the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For almost 50 years, not a day has gone by without the tension between the two making the news. The acts of violence committed by both sides have spurred much public outrage. Still, when condemning Palestinians, many make the mistake of lumping all Palestinians into one.

The two main political groups in Palestine, Hamas and Fatah, differ significantly. Fatah, which translates to the Palestinian Liberation Movement, was founded by Yasser Arafat to promote armed conflict against Israel. However, its current position toward Israel is to restart the peace process.

Hamas, which roughly translates to Islamic Resistance Movement, is a proponent of a strange mix of promoting the welfare of the Palestinian people while supporting “armed resistance.” The latter objective of the group has manifested itself in multiple suicide bombings, earning the group a spot on the terrorist organization list in the U.S., EU and Israel.

Most of us remember Hamas’s victory in the 2006 elections, widely covered by Western media. The enthusiasm of its supporters was justifiably disturbing, but even a quick glance at the background of the organization reveals the lack of support of security forces and quickly diminishing funds.

With that in mind, the next time CNN shows a four-second clip of a large gathering of people in the Middle East, it is more likely that the resulting sentiment will be curiosity and not a generic conclusion. Things are rarely what they seem and politics is certainly no exception. Gathering information about the parties involved in foreign affairs that affect our country is a necessary condition for a wholesome grasp of politics.

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