(MintPress) – President Barack Obama secured a second term in office this week, defeating the Republican challenger Mitt Romney in a resounding victory. While President Obama will likely place the economic recovery as a top issue in his second term, the president has the opportunity to create a new foreign policy based upon respect for national sovereignty and peace.
While Middle East peace has become the cause celebre of several preceding presidents, the opportunity to push for a new foreign policy will have a resounding impact on the future of the Middle East and China. Free from worry about re-election, Obama has the opportunity to de-escalate conflict with Iran, possibly preventing a devastating regional war while courageously incentivizing the peace process for Israelis, Palestinians and other neighboring Arab states.
Incentivizing talks, settlement freezes and a two-state solution
While Obama pushed timidly for peace talks in his first term, the president needs to assuage Israeli fears by taking a more assertive role in negotiations with Iran. Although negotiations this year have failed to silence the loose talk of war among neoconservatives, a critical framework for de-escalation and disarmament have been agreed upon in principle at previous talks in Istanbul and Baghdad.
By advancing the terms of the nuclear disarmament by loosening crippling sanctions, Obama has the opportunity to restore confidence in Washington as a fair arbiter with concern for regional stability. Ultimately, a nuclear free Middle East should be the vision that the commander in chief ought to put forth as the final goal for all states to adhere to in the future.
Indeed, a majority of Jewish-Israelis support creating a nuclear weapons free Middle East. Despite all the bluff and bluster of the hawkish Netanyahu administration, a full 64 percent of Jewish-Israelis favor total nuclear disarmament across the region, according to a World Public Opinion survey.
President Obama would be wise to capitalize on this sentiment within the mainstream Israeli public. By promoting a consistent, even-handed strategy of disarmament across the board, the U.S. can play a constructive role in helping to stabilize the Middle East during a time when leaders ought to be focusing on the Syrian civil war, brutal crackdowns on Bahraini dissidents and restarting the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
The dream of a nuclear free Middle East may seem like a pipe-dream to many, but the strategic framework and public opinion remain solidly in favor of de-escalation and disarmament. If Obama can overcome the coercive influence of the pro-Israel lobby in Washington, Obama will have the political space to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Many in the pro-peace camp remember the 2000 Camp David Accords, fondly through a lens that romanticized the prospect of peace personified by the handshake between the late Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. While Arafat ultimately rejected the peace settlement, many applauded Clinton’s late push for peace in his second term as president.
However, since that time, there has been no movement toward realizing the final two-state solution supported by the quartet, the U.N. and even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli government announced plans earlier this week to construct 1,213 settler homes in the West Bank, a decision that continues a destructive policy of illegal land seizure and apartheid duality that has become the modus operandi of Israeli engagement in the West Bank.
European nations were quick to condemn the latest wave of settlement construction beyond the internationally recognized 1967 borders. However, the U.S. remains silent throughout Israeli crimes in the West Bank and Gaza.
Demanding a swift end to illegal settlement construction will not endanger Israel’s long-term security. In fact, by ending settlement construction, adhering to international borders, and establishing a comprehensive peace settlement with Palestinian leadership, Israel will open up a wealth of new trade opportunities and a more peaceful future with neighboring states.
President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would be well served to revive the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, a proposal drafted by then Crown Prince King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia.
The proposal calls for Israel to return to pre-1967 borders and to allow for the creation of a Palestinian state on all of the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In exchange, all 22 Arab League countries — including long-time foes Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, among others — would recognize Israel and normalize relations with the Jewish state.
The U.S. already gives Israel more than $3 billion per year in direct aid. By offering to increase already robust military aid, the U.S. can assuage Israeli security fears by allowing the state to maintain its qualitative military edge over other regional powers.
In short, an investment in peace will pay dividends for Israelis, Palestinians and for all 22 members of the Arab League.
For most Americans, however, the economy remains the central focus of the next four years. The economic recovery continues slowly amidst public pressure for jobs, deficit reduction and lower college tuitions. Tackling this issue will require a reassessment of economic relationships with the biggest U.S. trade partners, namely China.
China: the center of economic reform
One of the biggest single problems preventing the creation of high paying American jobs is the proliferation of free trade agreements that allow manufacturers to outsource jobs to China and other countries where widespread labor violations persist.
The proverbial “race to the bottom” has allowed corporations to reap the benefits of the strong U.S. consumer market while skirting basic environmental regulations as well as laws pertaining to corporate taxation and labor conditions.
By abolishing free trade pacts and closing corporate tax loopholes, President Obama has the ability not to reduce trade with China, but to retool the American economy and help to increase U.S. exports to Washington’s East Asian trade partner.
The year 2012 continued a trend of unbalanced trade that saw the U.S. import more than $273 billion worth of Chinese goods, while only exporting $69 billion to our largest trade partner.
Should the president get serious about retooling the American workforce for the 21st century, an investment in education, research and development at home would help create new, profitable industries that have a comparative advantage over other countries.
While China continues to commit human rights violations against the Tibetans, the Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, creating a more equitable trade balance will allow the U.S. to bargain more effectively when it is not encumbered by crushing debt and a sluggish manufacturing sector.