Britain can show the West how to engage with the Middle East
The UK is held in high esteem in this volatile region but we should do more to strengthen our ties
Itravel to the Middle East at least once a month. I have lived in Saudi Arabia and Syria. In my meetings in mosques, malls and ministries, I detect a new opportunity for Britain to help advance peace, pluralism and prosperity in the most troubled part of our world. What we often overlook is how we are seen in the Middle East. Yes, there is the memory of the failures of the Iraq war, but there are other factors at play. Even our enemies in Iran, Hamas, Hizbollah, a-qaeda and Isil view us as “the head of the Western snake” – a compliment of sorts since we are perceived as the brains for America’s brawn. Uniquely among the nations of the world, we have prized assets that are held in high respect by the peoples and politicians of the Middle East: our monarchy has a magical appeal to the royals of the Gulf and Jordan. They adore Her Majesty and particularly the Prince of Wales, who has cultivated deep and lasting relationships with Arab kings and princes.
Our education system is the envy of the world, but especially the Middle East. Rulers, ministers, business elites and university professors have all been educated in Britain’s universities. Sandhurst-educated officer cadets command armed forces across the region.
The majority of the population seeks to speak English, and not with the accent of our American cousins. English common law is the inheritance of many countries and the law of commercial companies. Investing in Britain is the safe and sane choice for billions of pounds of their capital. London is the holiday location of choice. We are known for our historical role and contributions, warts and all, among all sides: Arabs, Turks, Iranians, Israelis and others. Despite mistakes, on balance, we are respected.
This year has started with mass anti-government protests in multiple Iranian cities, with young people tearing down pictures of the Iranian clerical leadership. Across the region, this is the big question today: what is the role of religion in politics? Iran offers a totalitarian model of Wilayat e Faqih, or “Rule of the Cleric”. Since 1979, Iran’s government has tried to export this, failing to create another government, but succeeding in creating terrorist organisations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Pakistan. Today I ask, where is Theresa May’s support for free protests inside Iran? What message does that send to the clerical hardliners in Tehran and elsewhere?
British influence for law and liberty in the Middle East is welcome, not seen as interference. Our silence creates an opening for Russia and Iran, whose allies are now in control of Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad. The West’s reticence strengthens our enemies, and harms our own security. In 2018 Britain must lead the way for the West on how to engage more widely, more deeply across the region. Inaction is a form of action, as we saw in Syria.
Take Britain’s principled, valuesbased engagement with Turkey. It is exemplary diplomacy for the West. Turkey is a vitally important geostrategic ally: a Nato member, home to a form of mainstream Sunni Islam in a secular country. Its significance transcends daily political ups and downs. On July 15, 2016, a military coup tried to assassinate President Erdogan, killed 250 people and bombed parliament. Russia called Ankara within hours to express solidarity. European capitals stayed silent.
In the subsequent state of emergency, where there are concerns about violations of human rights and press freedoms, Berlin and Paris have decided to shout and condemn Turkey. However, Richard Moore, Britain’s outstanding ambassador, has led the way in combining private criticism with public support. Theresa May visited Ankara straight after her trip to Washington. Today, British influence in Turkey tops that of America or EU nations.
We can and should help Turkey return fully to the Western sphere. Turkey cannot be courted by Iran and Russia to tilt the region towards them. Vladimir Putin has remorselessly and ruthlessly strengthened his grip on neighbouring Syria. Turkey’s land bears three million Syrian refugees. By helping Turkey with its refugee challenge, to defeat its domestic threats and by maintaining engagement, we can win over the hearts and minds of this proud nation.
The threat from Iran is real. In Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon there is violence, and in Bahrain attempted subversion in the name of Iran’s politicised Islam. Our Sunni allies in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and the Gulf need the West’s support to remain strong. We must be there for them in word and deed. For the first time in modern history, Israel stands on the cusp of securing peace with multiple neighbours simultaneously. As we contain Iran, we should help our allies find concord and amity.
In Egypt, for example, the Muslim Brotherhood organisation lingers in prison. Egypt imprisoned and killed a generation of Brotherhood activists in the 1960s, most famous among them Sayyid Qutb, and the result was the birth of jihadist organisations. We risk greater radicalisation of activist Sunni Muslims if we remain silent. British engagement in Egypt should include efforts to change the Muslim Brotherhood so that it embraces the advances made by Tunisia’s Ennahda party under Rached Ghannouchi. He, nobly, has rejected Islamism as a political project. Turkey’s President Erdogan called on the Muslim Brotherhood to accept secular pluralism in 2012. It is not too late. That way, we help channel the furies of a generation away from violence and toward political expression, building a secular pluralist state and not an imagined caliphate of the Isil variety.
Tunisia suffered the imposition of French Laïcité – the rejection of religion in the public domain – and reaped a backlash. By contrast, British and American accommodation of religion – state neutrality, not hostility – helps Muslim nations of the Middle East. In my conversations with friends there, they point to Britain as a home where the monarchy, aristocracy, parliament, religion and the people can all co-exist. Such a future for the Middle East is also possible. Britain can and should lead the way.
Ed Husain’s book ‘The House of Islam’ will be published in May