It felt a bit surreal to listen to President Obama's interview (Part 1- Part 2) on Al-Arabiya news television yesterday. It was not so much because he called for treating the Muslim world with respect and listening to its people- President Bush said the same thing many times- but mostly because for the first time, a U.S. president told an Arab/Muslim audience that he not only lived in the Muslim world but has Muslim family ties as well. As a public diplomacy initiative, this is quite effective, at least in tone. To a certain extent, this might undermine the recruiting efforts by militant extremists in the region. This is not to say that scores of Muslims were already lining up to join in Jihad against America, but those few confused souls who might be vulnerable to such an option might think twice now.

Like the rest of the world, Arabs and Muslims pin high hopes on Obama to break away from the heavy-handed and unilateral militarism of his predecessor. Obama did well to make his first official interview as president with an Arab news network, particulalry after the devastating war on Gaza. Let's not forget that Obama's historic inaugural ceremony was  snubbed by Arab media who focused mostly on the tragic humanitarian story in Gaza. The deafening silence of Obama on Gaza during his transition did not play out well in the region. So this is good timing for a president who wants to steer clear from Bush's neglect of the peace process in the Middle East. The reactions on the Al-Arabiya Website to the interview were mixed on the whole, but many highlighted the positive impact of Obama's message of respect as well as Muslim ties on diffusing some of the tension between the United States and people in the Middle East. This kind of diplomatic finesse is a great start, particulalry if it's followed with concrete action on the ground.

For future public diplomacy initiatives, however, I think Obama would be much better off with a news channel like Al-Jazeera because of its popularity and large reach in the region. Al-Arabiya is owned by the brother-in-law of the Saudi king and is not known for reflecting the voice of the people.