Doha:
Nine months after President Barack Obama held out the promise of a "new beginning" for the United States and the Islamic world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came to the Persian Gulf emirate on Sunday to plead for patience, conceding that the Obama administration had not yet delivered on some of its signature foreign-policy goals.
From the stalled Middle East peace process to the still-open prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the diplomatic deadlock with Iran over its nuclear program, Clinton acknowledged a list of unfinished projects, which she said had sowed suspicion that the U.S. commitment was "insufficient or insincere."
"I understand why people might be impatient," Clinton said in an address to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, a conference jointly sponsored by the Qatari government and the Brookings Institution. "Building a stronger relationship cannot happen overnight or even in a year."
But Clinton threw some of the onus for improving the atmosphere back on the Arab nations, saying they needed to assume more responsibility for helping jump-start peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and for standing up against Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"President Obama's vision was not one of a single country seeking to write a new chapter on its own," Clinton said of the president's speech last June at Cairo University. "It was a call for all of us to take responsibility for retiring stereotypes and outdated views."
Some of those stereotypes were plainly on view at this elite conference, as assembly of 300 Muslim and Western government officials, business people, scholars, and religious figures.
When Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian social scientist and human rights advocate who was imprisoned from 2001 to 2003, rose to challenge Clinton to take a tougher line with the Egyptian government over its repressive tactics, it bought a nervous chuckle from Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who was sharing the stage with the secretary.
"You know, I have enough problems with your government," the prime minister said to Ibrahim. He made a tongue-in-cheek show of disavowing Ibrahim's comments, saying "the Americans could handle" the backlash from an unhappy Egypt, but not a little neighbor like Qatar.
Smiling, Clinton said, "We will take responsibility."
It was a lighthearted exchange in an otherwise solemn gathering that underscored how little has changed since Obama pledged to improve relations between the United States and the Muslim world. The Israelis and Palestinians have not moved toward talks, and after a year of overtures by Obama, Iran has not softened its position.
Clinton said Obama had made extraordinary efforts, even sending messages to the Iranian leadership - an apparent confirmation of media reports last year that the president had written letters to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to which he did not reply.
While Clinton did not make specific requests of Iran's neighbors, she said they needed to take an active role in helping curb the Tehran government. Given that she was a guest in a neighboring country with close commercial ties to Iran, she used unusually blunt language about the Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful energy purposes.
She referred to Iran's "pursuit of nuclear weapons" without any caveats, and said, "we welcome any meaningful engagement, but we don't want to be engaging while they're building their bomb."
Clinton also expressed guarded optimism that China, which has resisted tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran because of its extensive commercial ties, might be more amenable to sanctions.
"I think the weight is maybe beginning to move toward not wanting to either be isolated or inadvertently contributing to instability that would undermine their economic interests," she said.
Qatar is one of four Persian Gulf countries, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait, that have accepted missile-defense batteries from the United States, according to U.S. military officials. The batteries are designed to shoot down short-range Iranian missiles.
For his part, Sheik Jassim al-Thani appealed to the United States to continue seeking direct dialogue with Iran. "If there is a nuclear race in the region, it will be an unhealthy race for all of us," he said.
He offered support for the latest U.S. initiative in the Middle East: proximity talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, in which the Obama's administration's special envoy, George J. Mitchell, would carry messages back and forth between the two.
The administration has been regrouping in the region since its first strategy - reciprocal steps by Israel on settlements and Arab nations on diplomatic and trade ties - made no progress. By demanding, and then appearing to back off from, a total freeze in Israeli settlement construction, analysts said the administration hurt its credibility with Arab leaders.
"I know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough," Clinton said. "The president, Senator Mitchell, and I are also disappointed." But she said Obama's resolve had not wavered.
In a meeting with Clinton, Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, pushed the United States to do more to alleviate the suffering of people in Gaza. She, in turn, raised the issue of reopening Israel's trade office here, which Qatar had closed after the military strikes on Gaza.
"The principle of shared responsibility extends to Israel's Arab neighbors, as well as countries around the world," she said.
From the stalled Middle East peace process to the still-open prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the diplomatic deadlock with Iran over its nuclear program, Clinton acknowledged a list of unfinished projects, which she said had sowed suspicion that the U.S. commitment was "insufficient or insincere."
"I understand why people might be impatient," Clinton said in an address to the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, a conference jointly sponsored by the Qatari government and the Brookings Institution. "Building a stronger relationship cannot happen overnight or even in a year."
But Clinton threw some of the onus for improving the atmosphere back on the Arab nations, saying they needed to assume more responsibility for helping jump-start peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and for standing up against Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"President Obama's vision was not one of a single country seeking to write a new chapter on its own," Clinton said of the president's speech last June at Cairo University. "It was a call for all of us to take responsibility for retiring stereotypes and outdated views."
Some of those stereotypes were plainly on view at this elite conference, as assembly of 300 Muslim and Western government officials, business people, scholars, and religious figures.
When Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian social scientist and human rights advocate who was imprisoned from 2001 to 2003, rose to challenge Clinton to take a tougher line with the Egyptian government over its repressive tactics, it bought a nervous chuckle from Qatar's prime minister, Sheik Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who was sharing the stage with the secretary.
"You know, I have enough problems with your government," the prime minister said to Ibrahim. He made a tongue-in-cheek show of disavowing Ibrahim's comments, saying "the Americans could handle" the backlash from an unhappy Egypt, but not a little neighbor like Qatar.
Smiling, Clinton said, "We will take responsibility."
It was a lighthearted exchange in an otherwise solemn gathering that underscored how little has changed since Obama pledged to improve relations between the United States and the Muslim world. The Israelis and Palestinians have not moved toward talks, and after a year of overtures by Obama, Iran has not softened its position.
Clinton said Obama had made extraordinary efforts, even sending messages to the Iranian leadership - an apparent confirmation of media reports last year that the president had written letters to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to which he did not reply.
While Clinton did not make specific requests of Iran's neighbors, she said they needed to take an active role in helping curb the Tehran government. Given that she was a guest in a neighboring country with close commercial ties to Iran, she used unusually blunt language about the Iranian nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful energy purposes.
She referred to Iran's "pursuit of nuclear weapons" without any caveats, and said, "we welcome any meaningful engagement, but we don't want to be engaging while they're building their bomb."
Clinton also expressed guarded optimism that China, which has resisted tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran because of its extensive commercial ties, might be more amenable to sanctions.
"I think the weight is maybe beginning to move toward not wanting to either be isolated or inadvertently contributing to instability that would undermine their economic interests," she said.
Qatar is one of four Persian Gulf countries, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Kuwait, that have accepted missile-defense batteries from the United States, according to U.S. military officials. The batteries are designed to shoot down short-range Iranian missiles.
For his part, Sheik Jassim al-Thani appealed to the United States to continue seeking direct dialogue with Iran. "If there is a nuclear race in the region, it will be an unhealthy race for all of us," he said.
He offered support for the latest U.S. initiative in the Middle East: proximity talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, in which the Obama's administration's special envoy, George J. Mitchell, would carry messages back and forth between the two.
The administration has been regrouping in the region since its first strategy - reciprocal steps by Israel on settlements and Arab nations on diplomatic and trade ties - made no progress. By demanding, and then appearing to back off from, a total freeze in Israeli settlement construction, analysts said the administration hurt its credibility with Arab leaders.
"I know people are disappointed that we have not yet achieved a breakthrough," Clinton said. "The president, Senator Mitchell, and I are also disappointed." But she said Obama's resolve had not wavered.
In a meeting with Clinton, Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, pushed the United States to do more to alleviate the suffering of people in Gaza. She, in turn, raised the issue of reopening Israel's trade office here, which Qatar had closed after the military strikes on Gaza.
"The principle of shared responsibility extends to Israel's Arab neighbors, as well as countries around the world," she said.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
