Who Needs Obama, when you have Saudi Arabia.

There is no reason not to expect a different, and improved, foreign policy from the new US administration. Obama built his whole campaign on promises of hope and, more importantly, change. As is the norm with politics, however, promises don't always translate into action. But, Bush messed up so bad that an improvement will be achieved regardless of who is taking the helm in DC. So, after watching Obama's inaugural speech, and hearing him mention Muslims twice, I thought that change is indeed coming.

The Middle East has spent the last eight years waiting for that change. Although Clinton had some positives going for him in regard to inching toward peace in the Middle East, he was just another ring in a chain of American influence without substance in the area. Arabs keep waiting for change from the wrong source. Change that is dearly needed on many levels and within many areas of life. Change that all the masses are calling for openly and otherwise. Change that could have been brought upon without the need for US presidents' approval or desire.

As the world witnessed during the Bush years, the influence of the US has teetered, along with Bush's approval ratings, to lows not seen since the Vietnam war. But, that same influence has kept up its weight in two countries: Egypt and Jordan. Although the two countries are of the top recipients of US financial and military aid (in 2007, Egypt was second and Jordan was fourth), the aid was a very low price to pay to quell the opposing voices to the Iraq war and the Israeli killing machine, and to convince them of a lurking Iranian threat.

Arab governments would have been in a far better position to oppose, and act, in response to the Gaza massacre had they not been “owned” by the US. After all, Egypt and Jordan between them have the majority of Israel-Arab borders. They very much protected Israel from the steaming public.

Now if one takes a look at the amount of “reported” aid. In the year 2007, Egypt and Jordan received ~$2.4B and ~$457M from the US government, respectively. At the same time, financial aid given by Arab countries has for decades exceeded these numbers. In the book The Pattern of Aid Giving By Eric Neumayer, aid from Arab countries in the years 1974-1994 has averaged 1.5% of GDP. If these numbers held up to these days, that would translate into $35 Billion for the year 2007 alone. That's $35B of aid given by Arab countries to Arab and non Arab countries throughout the world.

The following sheds the lights on the realities of Arab aid:

The Arab aid paradox

It is a little known paradox that the Arab world, despite its own, often onerous, domestic challenges, is one of the most generous providers of development finance. And, moreover, that this financing reaches far beyond the confines of the Arab world to over 140 developing countries around the globe. Many would be surprised to learn, for instance, that Arab aid has built hospitals in Albania and Senegal, schools in Jamaica and Burkina Faso, and roads in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Honduras. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Arab aid is responsible, too, for countless other improvements across the entire development spectrum. It has helped ease the movement of goods and people, facilitated access to jobs and social services, provided clean water, sanitation and electricity, and improved food security and nutrition. Indeed, for four decades, Arab aid has been instrumental in improving living standards and life expectancy among millions of the world’s poor. It is a record that speaks for itself, and one made all the more remarkable by the fact that the Arab countries are themselves developing and face many problems of their own. Regrettably, it is a record that has gone largely unrecognized, primarily because of the modest spirit in which the Arab donors have traditionally given their assistance.

Therefore, as seen above, given the sheer amount of Arab wealth evident in their giving to various countries the world over, it is conceivable that the influence of the US on Arab countries be minimized, and eventually reversed, if Arabs shopped around for influence (if they insist on not having influence of their own) from other permanent members of the Security Council, by re-channeling their aid to Egypt and Jordan just enough to replace that of the US.