WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have had an immense impact on international geopolitics, according to analysts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies at a forum Tuesday.
Although the overall United States response to the attacks has improved relations with China, the U.S. stance has further strained already problematic ties with the Middle East and highlighted the disconnect between the America and Europe, they said.
"We have allowed ourselves to condemn whole nations -- societies like Saudi Arabia -- blindly rather than pick out elements of terrorists that are genuine," said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on security issues who holds the Burke chair in strategy at the respected Washington policy institute.
"The message we have given throughout the (Persian Gulf) region is that we are petty, mean and intolerant of our friends as much as our enemies," he said.
His comments came during a panel discussion on the state of geopolitics at the advisory board conference marking the think tank's 40th anniversary.
Cordesman, a self-declared conservative and Republican, said he believes that the bulk of the blame for this dangerous message should be placed on the so-called "chattering classes" of the media and think tanks, but that the Bush administration is also at fault.
He added that this phenomenon is an extension of years of failed American policy toward the Persian Gulf region as a whole. The problem will continue, he said, due to the Bush administration's failure to recognize that the fight against terrorism is symmetrical, and the belief that democracy building is the answer to finding peace and stability in region.
Cordesman said it is "absurd" to believe that "instant democratization" would solve the problems in countries plagued by high unemployment among young male populations, religious fanaticism, and no rule of law as defined in the western sense.
Teresita Schaffer, director of the CSIS South Asia program, said that little has changed in Southeast Asia in geopolitical terms beyond the development of stronger ties between the United States and India, and the United States and Pakistan.
She said there is still the danger of regime change in fragile states like Pakistan, and that competition between the countries -- particularly Pakistan and India over the disputed Kashmir region -- remains heightened.
"Asia, in short, is (still) likely to become more competitive over the next 10 to 20 years," she said. "And I think this makes a major impact in the way the United States looks at the world."
Shaffer said that an invasion of Iraq could set dangerous interventionist precedent with important ramifications for the region, given the nuclear standoff between Pakistan and India. She said that U.S. military intervention in Iraq would likely tempt Pakistan to take action -- either through military or intelligence means -- towards the disputed region of Kashmir.
Bates Gill, who holds the Freeman chair in China studies at CSIS, said that the U.S. preoccupation with the war on terrorism actually provided a cooling period for U.S.-China relations that offered an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two nations.
He said, however, that U.S. policymakers fail to understand that the Chinese government is focused much more on its own survival in the face of changes like economic liberalization, than on external policy issues, even Taiwan.
"I think future U.S.- China relations will be defined mostly by what happens inside China in the next 10 to15 years, rather than by other sorts of external strategic issues which are often the sole concern of our attention in Washington," said Gill.
Celeste Wallander, director of the CSIS's Russia/Eurasia program, said she believes the events of Sept. 11 reinforced the need for partnering with former Soviet states to ensure that their weapons of mass destruction are kept secure, and to ensure that the area does not become a source of international instability.
In terms of the impact on European geopolitics, Simon Serfaty, director of the CSIS Europe program, said the attacks have spotlighted the differences in American and European policy, especially in military matters. This shows the need to refocus joint institutions like NATO in order to better deal with security needs, he said.
In addition, Serfaty said that there is a need to strengthen international institutions and the European-American "community of values and interests" developed since World War II, to enable both sides to better deal with worldwide crisis together.
"The ultimate challenge to American policy in the coming years is to take that community of values and turn it into a community of action," he said.
Of the geopolitical implications of a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Cordesman said that the failed policy decisions of past Administrations and the Bush White House since Sept. 11 are evident in the mismanagement of the issue.
"Most of all we have failed to prepare the region to deal with Saddam Hussein," he said. "We have done virtually nothing to win the minds and hearts of those Arabs that should support us."
In addition, he said that as the Bush administration moves toward war with Iraq, it has failed to explain how we would work to rebuild Iraq, or demonstrated that we do not seek to profit from the immense oil reserves in the country -- important concerns elements to Arab nations and the international community.
"We are unprepared" for this undertaking, he said.
