New Approach to Muslim States?

Joseph Loconte

Last week a diverse group of political, business, military, academic, and religious leaders released a report, Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations With the Muslim World. Convened by the Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute, the group issued several recommendations, including the promotion of economic growth and good governance in Muslim states.

They summarized their work thus:

The central message of our strategy is that the U.S. government, business, faith, education, and media leaders must work with Muslim counterparts to build a coalition that will turn the tide against extremism. Our recommendations are directed primarily to U.S. leaders and institutions, but we can succeed only if counterparts in Muslim majority countries and communities also take responsibility for addressing key challenges: reducing extremism, resolving political and sectarian conflicts, holding governments accountable, creating more vibrant economies, correcting misconceptions, and engaging in dialogue to build mutual respect and understanding.

The report deserves careful scrutiny. In the works for nearly two years, it focuses attention on the “soft power” dimension to U.S. foreign policy, which could benefit from some fresh thinking. However, the 34-member group was chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who mostly ignored the importance of religion to U.S. foreign policy during her tenure in the Clinton administration. The report’s guiding assumptions remain fuzzy, especially when it comes to identifying the core issues dividing many Americans from Muslims around the world. Thus we read the following claim: “Policies and actions—not a clash of civilizations—are at the root of our divisions.”

Whatever the factors fueling divisions between Americans and Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere, religious ideology—embedded in cultural institutions—surely plays a significant role. Likewise, the report’s executive summary makes no mention of a massive problem in the Islamic world: the relative lack of genuine religious liberty. A report on American-Muslim relations that tries to elide these issues suggests not a sober appraisal of unpleasant facts on the ground, but rather another flirtation with political correctness.

Fodder, Faiths and Worldviews, Religious Liberty, War and Peace, Joseph Loconte, Tue 30 Sep 2008