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7 November 2009,
A cultivation of goodwill by the UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, is a factor in this turnaround sentiment, said James Zogby, senior advisor at the U.S.-based research and polling firm Zogby International.
Zogby, speaking at the Dubai School of Government late on Thursday, said he had expected “a negative backlash” against steps by Gulf-based funds to invest in the United States.
The first test of the popular response to such investments came in 2006, when DP World tried to begin operating terminals at six big seaports in the U.S. after buying them from British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. An outcry over perceived security risks, stoked by some members of the U.S. Congress, led DP World to sell the terminals instead.
Americans are now giving a warmer welcome to Middle Eastern investment, Zogby said, possibly because the U.S. economy and public finances are weaker now than they were in 2006, before the recession.
“’The Arabs are coming! The Arabs are coming!’ We’re not hearing that,” he said, adding that U.S. politicians so far have not tried to inflame public opinion against acquisitions by Arab funds.
“You’ve got a really smart ambassador in the USA right now… and he’s taking these problems head on,” Zogby said, referring to Al Otaiba.
In contrast, the UAE played a more passive role during the DP World controversy, and that company “got defined in a negative way” as a result, Zogby said. “My sense is that we will not see that situation again.”
On the broader topic of U.S. policy in the Middle East, Zogby suggested that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton created an unnecessary furore when she voiced support for what she called Israel’s “unprecedented” concessions to the Palestinians.
“I think it was inartfully expressed…,” Zogby said. “She was trying to make the Israelis feel good.”