Liu Baolai, former Vice President of The Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and former ambassador to the Middle East, published a commentary in Xinhua on the U.S. strategy in the Middle East titled, “The U.S Is Eating the Bitter Fruit of Its Middle East Strategy.” Liu said that in 2012, the U.S. Middle East strategy suffered one loss after another. He summarized them in five areas:
1) The U.S. declined in soft power and lost the regional support of the people. (Liu’s article cited a poll that showed that 78 percent of Arabs hate Americans). 2) As the Islamic forces rise, they only use "American democracy" to attain power but they actually oppose "American democracy." They are against the U.S.-led international policies; they want to be independent. 3) Iran is growing in power. Over the past year, in the face of the U.S. threat, Iran has built up its military power, developed military enterprises, greatly strengthened its national defense, and also held a number of military exercises. 4) The four transformed Arabian countries distanced themselves from the United States. The new regimes of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen learned lessons and have adjusted their foreign policies. They changed their previous pro-American policy to one that is relatively independent and balanced. 5) The Iraq "example" effect has disappeared. Since the U.S. troops left Iraq at the end of 2011, the American model has become an empty shell.
In the end, Liu remarked that "the Universal values" of the United States are not working. The U.S. can only eat the bitter fruits of its own acts.
Source: Xinhua, November 28, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2012-11/28/c_124012685.htm