The nation's national pride and prejudice, however, has hurt the country, eroding this goodwill. As the sole superpower, U.S. policies made it seem as if the administration knew exactly what is good for the world. American prejudice is that the United State looks at other nations' policies as inferior and not suitable for even their own people.

The combination of U.S. pride and prejudice in the Middle East is creating conflicts and preventing an open dialog among the Middle Eastern countries, fueling distrust of the United States. Today Iran is under sanctions. Turkey will probably never gain entrance to the European Union. Wars continue in Afghanistan and Iraq. Gas exports to Pakistan and India are delayed. Representatives of Palestine's governments are seen as terrorists with whom other diplomats cannot negotiate. To our astonishment even Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah felt compelled to open the Arab League summit by calling America's presence in Iraq "an illegitimate foreign occupation."

We forget that Middle East nations also have their own pride, as well as prejudices, and do not wish to be dictated to by the West. Recent surveys of people throughout that region - even among U.S. allies - now show a strong dislike and distrust of America. According to surveys by the BBC, the U.S. is distrusted and disliked as much as Israel, Iran, and North Korea.

This erosion of goodwill comes at a pivotal moment. Middle East economies need to create 100 million jobs over the next decade to keep their unemployment rates at today's levels. This is an important challenge for the world and one that must be met. The U.S., for example, generates about 1.5 million new jobs in a good year. The West cannot afford to have 100 million 19- 25-year-olds without jobs in the Middle East. Unemployment causes frustration, disillusionment, and desperation. It will likely cause massive immigration problems for Europe. Low-income countries with high unemployment rates are incubators for terrorist activities, which can result in massive direct economic costs with significant threats to regional and international political and economic stability.

If we do not resolve the issues now, the cost in the future will be much higher, not just in terms of money, but in terms of reduced influence, admiration, and support when we may need it most. Washington needs to lobby for Turkey's acceptance into the EU. They have waited long enough. Sanctions on Iran have not achieved their intended goals and should be removed. Having commercial planes drop from the sky due to lack of spare parts is not the American way. These sanctions have only caused higher oil prices while preventing job creation for young Iranians. The Iraqi situation is more likely to be resolved with the involvement of neighboring and affected parties. Just as in Iraq, the U.S. involvement in the Israel-Palestinian confrontations must have an exit timetable during which the United States should offer to broker and pay for a settlement: Israelis and Palestinian must be compensated for any surrendering of their respective property and land. These actions will no doubt cost the U.S. dearly; however, our actions to date have cost the U.S. taxpayer over half-a-trillion dollars without success. During the four years the country has been in Iraq, 40 million young Middle Easterners became of working age with less than half being fully employed. Thus our pride, and theirs, has already cost us all dearly. Our prejudice, and theirs, is creating an environment where the future will be more dangerous, more costly to address, and further challenge what America has always represented.

This is not a problem we can solve through war or sanctions. Our current policy is a formula for disaster not success. Success here hinges on jobs created, not bombs dropped. Fueling economic growth requires the investment of foreign capital, peace and stability, and countries putting aside long-standing conflicts based on either pride or prejudice. Whatever the cost of creating peace and security today, it is cheaper now than it will be in five years. The United States can regain a leadership role in the Middle East by resolving these issues now. Failing to put aside pride and prejudice will prove to be catastrophic to all of us in the decade to come.

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Fariborz Ghadar is the William A. Schreyer Professor of Global Management Policies and Director of The Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State. He specializes in researching emerging multifunctional business issues that shape the global environment.