American foreign policy under George Bush and Condoleezza Rice is turning into an incubator of civil conflicts while being absent in other spheres, where it could do some good.

The US is not a prime cause of internal conflicts but it is helping to turn the smoldering embers of old hatreds among local tribes and sects into blazing violence. Since World War II, US foreign policy was the world’s indispensable peacemaker. It helped to save more lives and aid more people than can be counted. It is now turning into a fuel of war, civil conflicts and displaced people.

At the same time, Washington is neglecting conflicts that cause extraordinary human suffering but need not continue because resolution is achievable. Some of those are in Africa.

Trust in the goodness of the American people is fast disappearing among non-Americans, who hold the people responsible for US foreign policy since America bills itself as a leader of democracy. Here are some examples:

Iraq is drowning in civil war because of US foreign and defense policy mistakes. Lebanon is sliding to internal conflict because of Washington’s rejection of Hizbullah, a major political force in that country. In Palestine, rival factions are openly shooting at each other at a scale never seen before partly because of Washington’s refusal to deal with Hamas, which overwhelmingly won the last democratic elections.

More dangerously, Washington is trying to turn Iran’s various ethnic groups against the dominant Persians, who comprise about 40% of the population. It is also trying to play progressives forces and young people against traditionalist mullahs and other conservatives. It is not considering sufficiently the regional effects of destabilizing Iran alongside problems in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey and separatist Kurds. It is also not considering the weakness of the Central Asian countries near Iran, including Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It is not considering the effects on the vast Muslim populations of nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.

In Afghanistan, US policy is preventing a weak government from widening its writ over the entire country through dialogue with groups that Washington does not like. Those include factions within the Taliban who would prefer peace but go along with Taliban radicals because there is no room for them in the peace that Washington seeks for Afghanistan.

In all these situations, US foreign policy is a force of destabilization because it does not allow governments, even those elected democratically, to engage constructively with all parts of the local political spectrum in resolving internal conflicts.

Washington is also on a destabilizing path regarding North Korea. None of its threats or punishments has prevented that country’s march to nuclear weapons. Instead, Seoul is worried about American heavy handedness and China is reaping benefits by becoming the lead power, rather than the US, in finding solutions. Chinese leadership is destabilizing for the regional security balance affecting Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

In the misery-laden conflicts of Africa, the US, which used to be the prime force for good, is reporting absent. In Somalia, Washington has backed an Ethiopian invasion to overthrow an Islamist government without paving the way for anything stable in its stead. A nearly 30-year civil war that settled down just a year ago is being rekindled.

In the bloody mess of Darfur, Washington is against absent. A few days ago, China stepped in as a peacemaker because it is a friend of the Khartoum government. Should America really be allowing China to step into this vacuum?

Some 4 million people died of hunger and disease in Congo during a bloody war that continued in fits and starts for several decades. It was dubbed the First World War of Africa because it was so big and involved some nine countries in the end. Finally, elections took place in 2006 and the situation has calmed down a little. But US foreign policy remains absent.

Egypt, which has been a dictatorship for over 50 years, is no closer to becoming a freer country for its people. It is a prime ally of the US, but Washington is still perceived as a protector of the harsh regime rather than a dynamic pro-democracy advocate.

In Pakistan, the US dithers even as Islamabad allows al Qaeda safe havens to grow in the Waziristan tribal region. India is gaining ground as a nuclear power with Washington’s acquiescence and is now turning to Russia for civilian nuclear reactors and conventional weapons instead of to the West.

It is time for US foreign policy to change course not only in Iraq but also elsewhere.