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FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0393
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003949 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD; NEA/ELA; IIP/SDIS (Platt) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KPAO SCUL JO
SUBJECT:  American Foreign Policy Scholar Walter Russell Mead 
Discusses U.S. Foreign Policy for Influential Jordanian Audiences 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  During a two-day speaker's program September 3-4, 
Council on Foreign Relations scholar Walter Russell Mead adroitly 
discussed many  U.S. foreign policy issues, and disabused his 
influential audiences of several misperceptions they held concerning 
the motives and processes behind the formulation of those policies. 
His interlocutors came away with a new appreciation for the 
complexity of American society and foreign policy decision-making, 
and hailed his breadth of knowledge and understanding of their 
concerns.  His themes reached a much broader audience through a long 
newspaper interview and an hour-long televised debate.  End 
summary. 
 
MEAD SHEDS LIGHT ON U.S. ROLE IN A CHANGING WORLD AND FORMULATION OF 
POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
 
¶2. Mead, the Henry Kissinger Fellow at the Council on Foreign 
Relations, began his program September 3 with a talk on U.S. foreign 
policy priorities in a changing world to 20 top-level intellectuals 
and journalists at the Center for Strategic Studies.  Mead 
skillfully laid out the main foreign policy challenges facing the 
U.S. as he saw it, emphasizing that while Iraq was the top issue at 
the moment, there were many other important challenges confronting 
the U.S., including the rise of India and China, North Korea, 
Russia, Darfur, and others.  He elaborated on the long-term 
interests of the U.S. in each area, and helped the audience 
understand why they should not expect sharp differences in foreign 
policies during the next administration given those constant 
interests.  He also discussed why the U.S. went to war in Iraq, and 
disabused some in his audiences of the idea that the motives had 
more to do with oil or the U.S.-Israel relationship than with the 
threat of WMD or the imperative to bring democracy to the heart of 
the Arab world. 
 
¶3.  Mead next addressed a larger audience of young diplomats and 
professors at the Jordanian Institute of Diplomacy.    He spoke in 
depth about the role of evangelical Christians in American foreign 
policy formulation, and how the concept of secularism differs in 
Europe and the U.S.  He broke down widely-held local stereotypes of 
evangelical Christians, and described  why Muslims often find it 
easier to integrate into American society than they do in many 
European societies.  Over an official dinner the same evening with 
leading Editors-in-Chief, Mead expounded on may different topics, 
most notably explaining the pluralistic system of lobbying in the 
U.S., and debunking the notion that there is any one all-powerful 
lobby that controls U.S. policies toward the Middle East. 
 
¶4.  The following day, Professor Mead engaged in two long media 
events and a lengthy discussion with a cross-section of Jordanian 
civil society activists at a local think tank.  This last event drew 
an animated, standing room only crowd of writers, activists, 
journalists and politicians from all ideological tendencies.  Mead's 
topic was Iraq, and the anger in the room at the U.S.-led military 
presence was palpable.  Despite this, Mead smoothly parried the 
audience's charges and denunciations, while still expressing 
understanding for their points of view.  He laid out in systematic 
fashion the options now available to the U.S. and the international 
community, stressing that whatever disagreements we may have had 
about the origins of the war, we needed to work together to find the 
best outcome for Iraqis and everybody else in the region.  A 
precipitous withdrawal of most American forces would likely lead to 
a large bloodbath, he said, and could impact neighboring countries 
such as Jordan.  In response to many accusations that the war was 
all about Israel or oil, Mead articulated skillfully the rationale 
for American actions, and implored the guests to be wary of 
simplifications, explaining that American society and policy 
formulation are far more complicated than they seem from afar. 
 
¶5.  Mead's appearance on the popular, hour-long Jordanian TV talk 
show "Without Restrictions" allowed him to amplify his main themes 
to an audience of tens of thousands of viewers.  He debated a 
well-known journalist and columnist about US policies in the Middle 
East, and countered each of the columnist's exaggerated charges with 
a reasoned, clear response.  His expression of understanding of the 
suffering of the Palestinians caught the attention of viewers, and 
gave his opposing arguments more resonance.  The newspaper interview 
Mead did with leading daily newspaper Al-Ghad was published a few 
days after the program.  Appearing with a photo, the interview 
accurately quoted Mead discussing many of the main themes he touched 
upon in his other appearances, thereby reaching another audience of 
thousands of educated elites in the capitol. 
 
IMPACT 
 
¶6. Mead's program in Jordan directly reached approximately 200 key 
players in the media, think tank, NGO and university communities, as 
well as tens of thousands of others through his media interviews. 
His scholarly reputation preceded him, and his deep knowledge of 
foreign policy, combined with his patience and sympathy for the 
positions taken by many of his interlocutors, afforded him much 
credibility and permitted his points to gain traction with the 
 
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audiences.  While Mead did not always agree with U.S. policies, he 
did manage to explain the rationale for them, and at the same time 
managed to take apart some of the wilder conspiracy theories 
directed his way.  Overall, Mead proved to be a superb speaker with 
the kind of comprehensive, profound analysis of policies that is 
often lacking in this region.  Reaction from audience members was 
universally positive, with many asking PA to bring more such 
speakers in the future. 
 
¶7. Cost: Mr. Mead's travel, lodging, per diems and honorarium were 
covered by IIP funds.  Post covered charges related to 
representational dinner and interpretation of the TV interview. 
 
¶8. Post thanks Jody Rose Platt in IIP for her assistance in 
organizing this program. 
 
HALE