Re-Examine Foreign Policy - John B. Quigley

John B. Quigley, Presidents' Club Professor of Law

Quigley, John B., "Identifying the Origins of Anti-American Terrorism," Florida Law Review, 2006 (56 Fla. L. Rev. 1003)

The current “War on Terrorism” will fail unless the United States changes its policies in the Middle East, an Ohio State University Law Professor argues in the Florida Law Review.

“If terrorism is to be addressed rationally, its origins must be determined,” writes Prof. John Quigley of the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, an international human rights activist and an expert in international law. “Just as a physician cannot treat the patient without making a diagnosis, so with negative social phenomena, one must determine their origin before prescribing remedies or identifying appropriate actors to administer the remedies.” The cause of international terrorism, Quigley writes, is the history of heavy handed and self interested Western and, in particular, U.S. intervention in Middle Eastern affairs. The remedy is for the United States to change its policies in the Middle East and toward the Muslim world.

“To turn this situation around, the United States must promote serious negotiations over the Israeli-Palestinian question based on universally recognized principles,” Quigley writes. “More broadly, the United States must cease trying to micro-manage the Middle East to its political and economic advantage. It must promote a collaborative relationship that can be seen to reflect respect for the people of the area...”

"...“But in the Middle East, a perception developed that the United States was out to promote its own interests.” These anti-U.S. perceptions were further solidified by the continued one-sided U.S. backing of Israel and Cold War decisions to support causes like the Islamist revolutionary Mujahideen in Afghanistan, Quigley writes..."