I know these lines are going to cost me. At least two dinner invitations that have been previously extended are going to be withdrawn summarily. The Hyper Liberal club of Washington, D.C. may well declare me persona non grata. And the abuse I am taking on the blogosphere may rise at least one more decibel -- not a small feat given its current level. Nevertheless, what is one to do? Truth be told, Karen Hughes, the Public Diplomacy Tsar of the Condi Rice State Department--and member of the Bush administration--aced it: in an op-ed in The Washington Post on September 17, she pointed out that Muslim majorities in numerous Muslim nations (including the larger ones) are rejecting terrorism, suicide bombers and bin Laden. Moreover, recent data show that these ranks are increasing by leaps and bounds.
Here are some of the details, in her own words:
"... polling in Turkey two years ago found that 90 percent of citizens believe the al-Qaeda bombings in London, Istanbul, Madrid and Egypt were unjust and unfair; 86 percent thought that there was no excuse for condoning the Sept. 11 attacks; and 75 percent said bin Laden does not represent Muslims."
Hughes correctly added that "Perhaps most significant, Muslim populations are increasingly rejecting bin Laden's attempts to pervert their faith. WorldPublicOpinion.org found in April that large majorities in Egypt (88 percent), Indonesia (65 percent) and Morocco (66 percent) agree: Groups that use violence against civilians, such as Al Qaeda, are violating the principles of Islam. "
Most importantly, there is not a word, not one, about democratization. She is hardly alone. The utopian goal of flipping the Middle East into a shining prosperous crest of democracies was dropped from Secretary of Defense Gates' last speech, too, and was barely mentioned in President Bush's last national broadcast on September 13, 2007.
As we previously argued (in Security First), if one makes support for democracy the litmus test for those Muslims we can work with, and defines all those who do not yet share this belief as the enemy, then we shall find most Muslims on the wrong side of the fence. In contrast, if we come to view all those who reject violence, terrorism and civil war as potential 'Partners in Peace,' we will find many Muslims on the right side of the fence, as the data both Hughes and we have assembled demonstrate.
Furthermore, these data also attest that the clash of civilizations, still promoted by Sir Bernard Lewis, is dead wrong. The same holds for the notion promoted by Samuel Huntington: "Some Westerners, including Bill Clinton, have argued that the West does not have a problem with Islam but only with violent Islamist extremists. Fourteen hundred years of history demonstrate otherwise..." Muslims are not all of one kind, and their religion does not legitimate violence per se, although it is open to such interpretations -- which is also true about many other religions as well as secular ideologies. Better yet, Hughes highlights (better late than never) that not only are there many hundred millions of peace-loving Muslims, but that their numbers are increasing dramatically. In short, we have many fewer enemies to contend with and many more potential allies -- if we sue for peace rather than forced democratization.
At the same time there is nothing in these data to suggest that if we
were to help form a new global architecture, in which people of
different beliefs would work together to serve their interest in
security, that we ought to stop promoting democracy through non-lethal
means. That is, using educational and cultural programs, student
exchanges, and a variety of media outlets. These efforts can all
proceed to advance nascent reforming forces in the Muslim world, for
them to democratize in their nations in their own way.
We may have been among the first to point to these data and the many
conclusions that follow from them. However, this is not about the pride
of authorship but about a major course correction in foreign policy. It
is a terribly overdue change.
***
Micro-blogging: Today is the eve of Atonement Day. If I properly atone,
God will forgive me for the sins I committed against Him (or Her) but I
am duty bound to ask your forgiveness for all the comments I did not
respond to and those I did not get quite right. Thanks for considering
my plea.
Amitai Etzioni is Professor of International Relations at the George
Washington University and the author of Security First: For A Muscular,
Moral Foreign Policy. (Yale 2007). www.securityfirstbook.com
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