The need to exercise professional politics

In our part of the world, as in the US itself and other countries, many have been disappointed — to say the least — about the outcome of the recent American election.

Since the start of his bid for the Republican Party’s candidacy as well as for the presidency, Donald Trump has offended and angered countless people with his political incorrectness, provocative statements and erroneous positions.

One cannot think of any US party or presidential candidate in recent memory who has caused so much controversy and offence, both internally and internationally.

To us, in this part of the world, he has crossed several red lines; two of them mean a lot to millions of people: the Palestinian issue and Islam.

Regarding the former, he went beyond the call of duty in lavishing promises on Israel, ones which are not only extremely harmful to the Palestinians but also detrimental to peacemaking efforts in the entire region.

As for the latter, he gave a whole new dimension to Islamophobia: fallacious statements about the faith of more than 1.6 billion Muslims, incitement to violence against them individually and collectively, threats of deportation or denial of entry to many of them, etc.

Now that he has been elected president, peoples’ concerns and fears have become more real and more urgent to come to terms with.

Many questions are being posed about the implications of what Trump has said during his campaigns.

Was it mere election rhetoric? Will he deliver on all or some of what he promised?

Will he become even bolder, now that he has actually won? 

Will the presidency impose restrictions on him the way it has on many others? And so on and so forth.

Time, of course, will tell — and soon we will find out. However, entering into a guessing game or adopting a wait-and-see approach, which many in our region are good at, is neither useful nor wise.

What our countries need is one approach only: professional diplomacy.

Trump was elected president, and no matter what he has said or done, or will say and do, we should deal with him as the president of the United States: explain to him and to members of his administration our position on the various matters that concern us very, very clearly so that he is in no doubt about the implications and consequences of his actions or those of his administration.

While in politics we should always assume the worst and be prepared for it, we should also be open to the best and be ready for it.

The crucial question to ask is not what Trump may or may not do, but what will we do, or are prepared to do, in either case.

Trump may actually try to implement all or some of the subversive things he promised.

What precisely are we prepared or able to do if he does what he said he would do?

How can we preempt it? How can we influence or sway him from pursuing paths that — at the Palestinian-Israeli level — may be disastrous to both Palestinians and Israelis and — at the Muslim level — traumatic to many Muslims and damaging to East-West relations?

Are our politicians able to live up to the challenge of being proactive, preemptive and persuasive?

And if Trump will actually abandon the election rhetoric and pursue a more realistic approach, how can we capitalise on the best in him to make sure that his politics are fair not only to us but to all peoples in the region?

We have lived enough to know that there are surprises in today’s world, both pleasant and unpleasant.

When President Barak Obama won the US presidency eight years ago, many of us rejoiced. He was a decent man of peace, who has won the Nobel Prize at the start of his first term, we thought. We were full of high hopes.

And yet, what he has done for this region is minimal at best. He may not have deliberately contributed to escalating an already volatile situation, but he did not deliver on either the Palestinian front or the overall Mideast peace.

He is leaving us utterly disappointed.

Could Trump sway in the direction of more balanced politics?

Nay, could we exercise proactive, strong diplomacy in order to a) prevent any disastrous moves that he or his administration may take or b) encourage him to follow a more peaceful, more balanced position on issues? 

It is these two questions, and not any others, that we should be asking. And it is professional diplomacy that we should be after.

We in Jordan always have faith in our country’s position, which is based on realism, respect of the rights of all and professional diplomacy.