Students joined the Hopkins American Partnership for Israel (HAPI) and the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS) in the Charles Commons Ballrooms on Tuesday for dinner and a presentation entitled “The U.S. and Middle East — A conversation with Aaron David Miller.”
Miller, a Middle East policy expert, currently serves as the vice president for New Initiatives and is a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In the past, he has served as an advisor in the State Department for both Democratic and Republican Secretaries of State.
HAPI is a nondenominational, bipartisan political group that seeks to strengthen the historical friendship between the United States and Israel by engaging student leaders, informing the community and lobbying members of Congress. FAS, an entirely student run, non-profit speaker series, joined HAPI to co-sponsor the event.
Executive President of SGA Alex Schupper, who is also a member of HAPI, introduced Miller.
“As members of the Johns Hopkins community, we have a responsibility to make sure that the conversation about the importance of the U.S. - Israel relationship is not just confined to the halls of Congress but expanded through the minds and voices of our generation. As students and as citizens, we must be an active and informed voice in stressing the importance of the U.S. - Israel relationship,” Schupper said.
Miller focused his presentation on U.S. - Israel relations as well as general issues of foreign policy between the U.S. and the Middle East.
“I want to talk about U.S. and Israel relations in the Middle East, but I want to set this in the broader context of U.S. foreign policy. I think it is impossible to understand what the U.S. is doing without understanding the context,” Miller said.
Miller claimed that the U.S. cannot fix issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Arab Spring. He believes that U.S. involvement in these regions has created confusion on how foreign policy should proceed.
“We can’t leave and we can’t repair it. So what do you do? You can’t transform the region. [George W. Bush] tried that. It didn’t work. And you can’t withdraw from it. We have too many vital interests there,” Miller said.
To combat this dilemma, Miller suggested the U.S. foreign affair policy remain focused and optimistic.
“We have to focus on what’s important. We have to keep our expectations low. We have to project our power when we think we can actually succeed. And finally, we have to not surrender to the forces of cynicism and despair,” Miller said.
While discussing foreign policy, Miller also presented his own belief that diplomacy must maintain a balance between realistic and ideal expectations.
“The older I get, the more convinced I am that success in the human enterprise, including diplomacy, is really a question of finding the balance between what the world is on the one hand and what you want it to be on the other. If you see the world the way it is, only, it will change, but if you see the world the way you want it to be, only, you will fail. In diplomacy, finding that balance is very tricky,” Miller said.
Miller also commented on bipartisan divides claiming there is no place for party politics when dealing in foreign affairs.
“The dividing line in foreign affairs should not be left and right, liberal and conservative, republican and democrat. The line should be between dumb on one hand and smart on the other,” Miller said.
Although his talk focused on the Middle East as a region, Miller also addressed why the U.S. is such a strong supporter of Israel.
“The foundation of the relationship is that it is in our broadest interest to support like-minded countries. We also have a moral debt to the Jews. They are also our ally; we share intelligence and do joint exercises with them,” he said.
Miller repeatedly stressed that he was merely reporting and not trying to influence the opinions of those present in the audience.
“The peace process is like rock and roll — it’s never gonna die,” he said. “And it shouldn’t because the prospect of actually negotiating for a two state solution, that’s worthwhile, but it will not happen until there is a greater sense of ownership. Ownership, in my view, is driven by pain and gain.”
Miller left students with a piece of advice.
“College campuses are a moment in time,” he said. “Never give up on changing things or saving the world. But as you go through the process of trying to change the world, go through it with your eyes wide open ... you decide. You look at the world and you decide what makes sense and what doesn’t, what’s real and what’s an illusion. Frankly, that’s the most important piece of advice I could give you.”
Some students in attendance took Miller’s lecture as an extension of their studies in U.S. foreign policy.
“I thought Mr. Miller was effective and very, very eloquent. He has a very good mind on the issues of today. And maybe this is because of my own naïveté, but I’ve never had a more practical application of what I’m learning in International Relations at this school than this conversation that he had just now. It was very interesting,” senior Dylan Moses said.
Overall, members of HAPI said the event succeeded in drawing students and highlighting U.S. and Middle Eastern relationships.
“Yes, we are happy with the turnout,” junior Joanna Wexler, co-president of HAPI, said. “The more we can promote U.S. and Middle East relationships — it is obviously a vital issue — and the more people are aware of it on campus, the better. I loved the smart versus dumb line. It’s a very realistic approach. This is a fight and conversation worth having.”
