Bloomberg Businessweek quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Ramzy Mardini on President Obama’s efforts to rally Sunni support in battling the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham:

The complex politics of that neighborhood mean it won’t be an easy sell, said Ramzy Mardini, an analyst with the Atlantic Council, a Washington policy group.

“Obama doesn’t seem to get it,” Mardini said in an e-mail. “No Arab leader wants to publicly join hands with the ‘Great Satan’ and ‘Crusaders’ in fighting a war in the Middle East.”

While Arab leaders could be helpful in the right circumstances, “the tension lies in the U.S. wanting a public role for Arab states, and the Arab states preferring a private role,” Mardini said. “The Arabs are worried about internal blowback.”

Read the full article here.

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