For one Middle East expert, the conflict in the region could last for at least 30 to 40 more years.
Addressing a conservative audience at the Union League of Philadelphia yesterday evening, Martin Kramer, a senior Middle East adviser to Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign, discussed issues with current U.S. policy in the Middle East at the seventh annual Herbert Linsenberg Memorial Lecture.
The event was hosted by the conservative think tank Middle East Forum, whose director, Daniel Pipes, served as moderator.
Kramer pinpointed the three categories of American policy in the Middle East that he deems flawed: peace, globalization and democracy.
Kramer called the current U.S. approach to peace in the Middle East "naive," claiming that the government cannot mirror its approach in the Middle East to its approach in Europe after World War II. He added that a dream of European Union-style policy in the Middle East is purely wishful thinking.
"The road to hell is paved with bad analogies," Kramer said.
Kramer also criticized the U.S. government's policy of economic sanctions. He explained that not only is it ineffective but it also functions to the advantage of groups such as Hamas.
Emphasizing his pessimism with a plan for democracy in Middle East countries, he called the promotion of democracy in Iran an "ultimate fool's errand."
Because of his involvement with Giuliani's campaign, Kramer said he was hesitant to describe his own solution to the problems in the Middle East.
"I must admit that I am reticent to go into [the topic of] public policies," he said.
However, Kramer did say he believed there is a need for offensive action.
Calling radical Islam an enemy of the United States, he highlighted his belief that Muslims want expulsion of the West from the region.
Though he noted that no terrorist attack has happened on U.S. soil since 9/11, he added that the attacks in Spain and London can be seen as proof of the Middle East's resentment against the Western world and claimed that without offensive action, another 9/11 would happen.
Pipes quipped that Americans were "funding the enemy every time at the gas pump."
