Can you imagine George W. Bush speaking in Cairo? Can you imagine? It wouldn't have happened. It couldn't have.
Sure it's going to be a flowery speech, low on substance, high on rhetoric. Sure it's going to be mostly pomp and circumstance. Will anything immediate or direct come of it. ... No.
But, but, but - the fact that he has an attentive audience, the fact that this isn't just academic, but the voice of a new generation in American politics, a new name in American politics (not Bush or Clinton), a nearly post-Iraq war presence in American politics is important. Very important. This speech lays groundwork. It's a foundation.
Basiclally, all the mainstream middle and lower class Arab world know of US Presidents is war mongering and nearly unconditional support of Israel.
A new generation of Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebenese, etc. have come of age during the "war on terror," the Iraq war, etc. With Bush Cheney torture, thousands dead, 100,000s of refugees, etc.
Now we have a chance to really re-set the tone. And, tone is the start. We can't just go into the middle east today and solve everyone's problems. But we can do what Obama did so well in the campaign last year - inspire. We can win hearts and minds. That's what gave Obama his edge in the campaign, inspiring folks to go door to door, have bake sales, write op-ed pieces in local newspapers and on blogs, donate money, it was community organizing at its finest.
That model can be used in the middle east. It's all about bringing things into a new light and outreach. Sure, these are fuzzy words that can mean a lot of different things. But the bottom line is that the elegant and down to earth oratory skill of Obama (especially compared with the garbage we heard for the past 8 years) will have an effect.
Symbolism is huge in that part of the world. It's huge everywhere. But Barack Hussein Obama means something more there. It just does. On a sub-liminal level it does.
Also think about this. Arafat is dead. Saddam Hussein is gone. Libya is no longer a threat. There are new power brokers in the region that need to be tapped.
More moderate countries need to be made more prominent in the various issues - Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, the more moderate factions in Israel, the more moderate factions in the Persian Gulf states can be the new power brokers.
How about a new Axis of good - Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, etc. with new trade agreements, new investments.
Iran will rattle its saber. Netanyahu will counter. But that rattling may be something that can be drowned out by new relationships and new efforts.