Abstract:
This article analyzes President Barack Obama’s thematic use of “mutual respect” in his foreign policy and in his efforts to engage the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Obama began his presidency by proclaiming that America seeks “a new way forward، based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Towards the Islamic Republic of Iran، the President spoke of constructive diplomacy، a process “not advanced by threats،” but an “engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.« As will be shown، the ideal of “mutual respect” resonates authentically with Obama’s personal background and worldview. The President believes that mutual respect matters، that it positively enhances American policies toward friends and adversaries alike. “Mutual respect” also strikes a responsive chord inside Iran because it embodies a time-honored value embedded deep in Iran''s diplomatic culture، transcending personalities، governments، and factions. Yet Obama’s mutual respect message has not been heard clearly in Iran، in part because of contradictions emanating from simultaneous expressions of pressures، sanctions، and time limits، words perceived in Iran as threatening and disrespectful. Despite such serious problems، this essay contends that “mutual respect” still matters، that it provides a constructive rail for bridging present chasms between America and Iran، a necessary pre-requisite to overcome counterproductive habits of “mutual disrespect .”
Machine summary:
" Towards the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President spoke of constructive diplomacy, a process "not advanced by threats," but an "engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.
Introduction Even as Barack Obama’s phenomenal rise to become America’s first African- American President catalyzed a cottage industry of instant books purporting to "explain Obama," the literature thus far gives little attention to a signature element within President Obama’s foreign policy: "mutual respect.
" A dramatic change from the Bush Administration’s "with us or against us" mantra, Obama’s "mutual respect" theme has been boldly offered to all nations, including rivals and potential adversaries, most particularly to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
" The "mutual respect" theme remained evident in President Obama’s foreign policy speeches during 2009 throughout the world.
At the "Summit of the Americas" in Trinidad and Tobago, on April 17, Obama spoke of America not as an "indispensable nation," but as an equal among many: "There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations; there is simply engagement based on mutual respect and common interests and shared values.
The Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini set the standard, that the Islamic Republic rejects relations between the "wolf and the sheep" in favor of a norm declaring that, "The foreign policy of Iran is based in mutual respect with all governments without discriminating among them.
com/talk/comment/2010/05/17/100517taco_talk_packer, and Roger Cohen, "Obama’s Post Iraq World," New York Times, 2 September 2010, at: http://www.