Patten: US should take EU lead in Middle East

Washington should learn from Europe in its dealings with the Middle East, EU external relations chief Chris Patten said on Tuesday. 

As the biggest trading partner with every country in the Middle East, except Jordan, Europe is “the most significant player” in the region the commissioner reminded the US in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

And as Washington increases its drive to foster democratic reform of Arab nations through its ‘Greater Middle East’ initiative, Patten said the US should take note of Europe’s long-standing strategic efforts. 

“I hope that our friends across the Atlantic are recognising that our long-term, consensus-building approach has some value, based as it is, on building common agendas that respect differences of approach in different countries and regions.”

Warning against a gung-ho approach, he said, “the Greater Middle East initiative from the US generated controversy in the region, mainly because the objectives appeared to have been set without any consultation process with the region.”

The new US policy on the Middle East – due to be presented at a meeting of G8 nations in June – could be based on the kind of “comprehensive and long term engagement which we have been advocating for years,” said the commissioner.

And he challenged the US to match its talk with hard cash. 

“We will have to talk with them if they are prepared to match this commitment with appropriate levels of resources,” he said.

The EU, together with the European Investment Bank, poured around €2.5 billion a year into the region to promote economic, political and institutional reform, Patten pointed out. 

Working together with reformers from Arab nations would yield more results than “any attempts to impose democracy from the outside, whether through persuasion or through the barrel of a gun”.

Following the cancellation of the Arab League summit on Monday, Patten urged Arab leaders to come together once again to thrash out their own reform agenda.

And the commissioner stressed that a resolution to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict must go hand in hand with any attempts to reform the region.

“Progress cannot be a pre-condition for confronting the challenges of reform, nor vice-versa. But to attempt one without the other is, in my view, a recipe for failure on both counts.”

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