Talks in the Middle East may indicate a shift in foreign policy doctrine:

It seems that there is a paradigm shift occurring amongst many of the Western nations, especially the United States and Israel.  These nations could be experiencing an “ah-ha” moment in foreign policy doctrine.  The paradigm that has been the driving force behind most of American and Western foreign policy for the better half of the 20th and all of the 21st century may be evolving.  We could be witnessing a change from containment to engagement, from isolation to openness.

A foreign policy doctrine based on engagement could do well to combat the global threat of terrorism and Islamic extremism.  Perhaps the best way to undermine Islamic extremism is by undermining their base of support by engaging the regions that they operate and flourish in, instead of isolating them in hopes of internal collapse.  I suppose the greatest question of our time is whether Islamic extremism is a real confronting idea, so much that it challenges the authority and supremacy of liberalism?  I have a hard time believing that it is a real challenge; I see it more as a nuisance — but a very powerful one, nonetheless.  Powerful enough to eradicate an entire city if given the proper resources.  A prudent shift in foreign policy could prove an adequate preventative measure.

Is this the right move?  I think so.  The policy of containment is an anachronistic policy of the the Cold War, whose efficacy was questionable then, even though the Iron Curtain fell.  Furthermore, the world in which we live operates much differently than it did in the 1970s.  We don’t live in a bi-polar world anymore.  We live in a world with one really strong power (the U.S.), a multitude of other strong powers, and the rest (who are rising).  A policy which seeks to disrupt the internal structure of states by strategically cordoning them off and neglecting to participate in peaceful, engaged talks to settle differences will not work in a world of many powers.  Hopefully a foreign policy shift amongst the West will lead to more sound statecraft and better diplomacy in a uni-multipolar world (to use Hunington’s phrase).