The Newfound American Sensitivity

The actions of the American Ambassador in Beirut show a profound understanding of the Lebanese state of affairs and are producing results. Who's to congratulate?


Smooth Operator

Don't be fooled by Jeffrey Feltman's baby face. This man's maneuvering on the Lebanese scene is by all standards an object of admiration. Quiet yet alert, firm yet tactful. He has managed by talking to all parties to help move the country through very transformative times, without compromising American Objectives.

American Ambassadors are notorious for their heavy-handedness: The previous Ambassador (now assistant under-secretary of state for the near east), David Satterfield, used to swagger in Hezbollah-controlled areas with camera crews just to provoke them. He was the daily staple of fiery speeches by most of the Lebanese Islamists, Nationalists and Arabists. Feltman has proved more tactful. He still visits Hezbollah-controlled areas but without the public muscle display.

He is also very alert and sensitive to potentially disruptive developments: when the Patriarch made that harmful speech, Feltman immediately assessed its significance and went straight to Bkirki to assure him that his concerns are a top American priority.

Aside from Feltman's competence, To what can we attribute this newfound American Sensitivity?

Feltman's approach is the latest outcome of a long (and bloody) process of evolution in American Foreign policy-making.
The Trials and Errors in Iraq, the experiences in Georgia, Ukraine and Russia have made the Americans experts in peaceful regime changes.
Who doesn't remember all the talk about the clash between the idealist Neocons in the pentagon and the realist pragmatists in the State Department?
Jeffrey Feltman's approach takes the best of the two worlds: a Wolfowitz idealism that makes him believe in the possibility of democracy in the Arab world, and a Kissinger pragmatism that made him negotiate with Hezbollah and the other "bad guys". Not to forget that ultimate of bad guys who was very useful in Lebanon: Jacques Chirac.

Hawkish Pragmatism could be the new signature of the Rice era. I wonder who's next on the Agenda. Egypt?