According to polls the image of the United States in the Middle East is about as low as it has ever been. Subjective reporting from the region indicates that the negative attitude toward America has, until recently, been directed against President Bush and his Administration. I am now getting reports from friends in the region, however, that indicate the mood is shifting. Arabs in the region are increasingly coming to believe that the problem is deeper in our society. It’s not the President, it’s the people.
The question is what impact this mood shift is having on American business? Most companies are reporting no loss of markets. And if you look at the trade statistics of Saudi Arabia our total exports since 2000 have remained relatively constant. But these statistics may mask some essential facts. If we look at the balance of trade with Saudi Arabia, we have gone from a deficit of eight billion one hundred and thirty million in 2000 to fifteen billion seven hundred and one million in 2004.
This would tend to indicate that we are getting no benefit from the massive influx of capital into the region generated by the increase of oil prices. By contrast, China increased its exports to Saudi Arabia by 21% in 2000, 18% in 2001 and 23.5% in 2003, the latest figures I have available. So while we may not be losing markets yet in the Middle East, we may be losing our share of the markets.
Several factors tend to soften the impact of the negative US image. For one thing, supplier relationships are strong and long standing. Business friends of mine in the Middle East say they are reluctant to change suppliers based on the trust they have built up over the years. However, they also say that unless US travel and other business restrictions are reduced, they will make the move to European suppliers. In this case it is not image that is the problem, it is the ease of doing business.
A second factor is that so many of the contracts for goods and services in Middle Eastern countries are controlled by the state. And in virtually every Middle East country, the current leadership is far more supportive of and, in a number of cases, beholden to the United States than the population at large.
This is not to say that there is no corrosive effect from US negatives. In virtually every Arab country the King or President is out in front of his people and more willing to support us than his people would be. But some of these leaders are getting tired of being exposed. Some are ready to wash their hands of us. And that is not a good sign for our future ability to drive policies in the region to our advantage or to guarantee a substantial share of their markets.
Every recent administration has struggled with this problem of image and every one of them has failed to mount an effective effort. Unfortunately, rearranging the deck chairs or throwing money at the problem won’t help.
Obviously, government has a role to play, but it may be more effectively exercised in the area of policy than of public relations. If US policy ignores the issues the region considers most important, like the Palestinian problem, our image suffers. What people want to see is that we care about their concerns, not just our own agenda. And they want us to live up to our own democratic principals and human rights values – not copy the behavior of autocratic regimes in the region.
In short, we have an image problem that is persistent and that will be exploited by our enemies and competitors whether they be in business or politics. We need to pull together to turn the situation around and restore and sustain the confidence that people around the world have placed in American values, our entrepreneurial spirit and the quality of our goods and services.
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