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| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Gloomy look at U.S.-Muslim relations |
| 2006-05-17 |
| But academics, policy analysts offer solutions at UD forum In other words, get out your barf bags and brace yourself for smokescreens and whitewash. NEWARK -- With a long history of conflict, hostilities and misperceptions as the backdrop, it was no wonder that the "State of US-Islamic World Relations" was described in gloomy terms at a University of Delaware panel discussion Tuesday night. About 200 people packed a room in Kirkbride Hall to hear five panelists -- academics and policy analysts -- describe facets of the tension between the United States and Islamic states around the globe. One of them, UD professor Stuart Kaufman, traced the worldwide decline in public support of the United States. He said the country is in a state of "low-intensity war with the entire Muslim world," and ended his stinging commentary on the "catastrophic, inept" foreign policy by saying he had no answers. Who better to criticize foreign policy than an academic with no answers? "I'll just leave being really depressed about the Middle East," he said. Peter Singer, senior fellow and director of The Brookings Institution's project on U.S. relations with the Islamic world, offered suggestions on how the country could better face its challenges. Among his recommendations: • Move away from the Cold War mentality that invests in post-Soviet Union scientists and work toward developing a new generation of Muslim scientists that could build up their economy. In other words, give oppressive anti-American governments teams of scientists. • Find ways of leveraging American strengths in business, arts and science. "We got more out of McDonald's in the Cold War than we did out of any MX missile," he said. Like that time Ronald McDonald stood up to Gorbachev in Iceland. • Invest more in humanitarian aid. In other words, give oppressive anti-American governments lots of money. Many questions remain about how political and religious reforms will look in this century, Singer said, and many Muslim-majority states are looking at huge rates of population growth that will put pressure on governments. The United States must find ways to "measure up to its own best traditions," he said. Mahmood Monshipouri, a professor of political science at Quinnipiac University, urged the United States to address its differences with Iran with direct negotiations that do not include intimidation. Monshipouri said the American news media tend to exaggerate the Iranian threat. ?! Efforts to disrupt Iran's nuclear program would increase hostilities and mistrust between the two countries, he said, which actually have many common interests, including stability in Iraq and Afghanistan, and concerns about terrorism, oil and Israel. Democratic transitions, he said, would be more successful at a gradual pace, emerging from homegrown initiatives. "Democracy is more likely to emerge from the daily tussles and struggles," he said.?! Mumtaz Ahmad, a professor of political science at Hampton University, noted that anti-Americanism in Pakistan no longer is confined to religious groups, but can be seen throughout the society. The anti-American sentiment of many Muslims is not deeply embedded, though, said program organizer Muqtedar Khan, a nonresident fellow of The Brookings Institution and an assistant professor of political science and international relations at UD. It has more to do with how America is perceived as treating Muslims. Public opinion of the United States improved when American dollars poured in after the devastating tsunami, he said. "Muslim public opinion is significantly rational," ?!?!he said. "You invade them, they hate you. You help them, they love you." The discussion was sponsored by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, with funding from the Tides Foundation, in partnership with UD's Department of Political Science and International Relations and The News Journal. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #17 I wonder when the last time any of these "experts" have been to any of these countries. Either way, who cares what they think. Go play in your bubble pointdexter, us knuckle- dragging pragmatists can handle the tribal loonies. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-05-17 21:56 |
| #16 Dude, can I have some of whatever they're smoking? Only if you like a mixture of PCP, crystallized battery acid and DDT. By all means, light up! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-05-17 20:51 |
| #15 Ironic isn't it - if the Jihadists ever won, these morons would be the first to go. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-05-17 20:27 |
| #14 It [perception] has more to do with how America is perceived as treating Muslims. The perception is shaped by internal media, i.e. propaganda. Reference the Danish cartoon fiasco, which was really instigated 3 or 4 months after the fact. ME media is really outrageous in general. The problem in this case is how to combat homegrown propaganda, and it is very difficult to avoid being affected by it when you live in an environment that is deluged by it. |
| Posted by: Azad 2006-05-17 17:50 |
| #13 Duh-I quoted what he said, not what actually is. Of course you are right. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-05-17 13:29 |
| #12 Dude, can I have some of whatever they're smoking? |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-05-17 12:26 |
| #11 No 4, "The anti-American sentiment of many Muslims IS deeply embedded..." It is being strongly indoctrinated even in so-called moderate muslim countries. Part of islam's supremacists finger pointing - one finger at the USA and four at itself. |
| Posted by: Duh! 2006-05-17 12:24 |
| #10 Mrs Kerry's money pays for this shit |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-17 11:36 |
| #9 ...with funding from the Tides Foundation So you know this was an "America Sucks" festival. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-05-17 11:26 |
| #8 In other words if we give them shiploads of money they will like us again. We already tried that once. If we let them flog us diplomatically they may like us again. If we leave them alone and let them build nuclear and chemical weapons to one day destroy us, they will like us(?). |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-05-17 11:15 |
| #7 Gee, was the Ambassador from Islamia there? What a crock. |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-05-17 10:54 |
| #6 Personally, I am rather proud of the fact that certain groups and countries disapprove of the United States and its actions. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-05-17 10:44 |
| #5 Once upon a time in a world far far away their was a trueism that could reappear in this great country ... It went something like "The only good xxx is a dead xxx" Which fits right into what Jules just said. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-17 10:11 |
| #4 "The anti-American sentiment of many Muslims is not deeply embedded..." The anti-Muslim sentiment of many Americans is becoming more "deeply imbedded" with every Palestinian suicide bombing, every "Death to America" chant, every burning embassy, every maniacal leader swearing to remove Israel from the map, every murderous riot over cartoons, every decapitated southeast Asian schoolgirl...the Muslim community should be very concerned about how they are perceived while they still have a chance to reverse that hardening opinion. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-05-17 09:47 |
| #3 OK, so we don't seem to like people who call us dogs and pigs and fly planes into our skyscrapers and strap dynamite to themselves and blow us up, etc. ***sigh*** |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-17 09:35 |
| #2 I suspect there's a second purpose, Spot. Deep down inside most of these people are scared .. scared that their nice neat ideological boxes don't really have a place for heads being sawn off of screaming live people in agony, scared that the order and prosperity they took for granted (even while attacking nasty capitalism) are vulnerable, scared that people might actually want to kill them. Not that they can admit or deal with that fear. So they continue the charade ... |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-17 08:37 |
| #1 Problems between the US and muslims? All US's fault. Solution? US bends over and grabs ankles. The only point of a conference like this is for moonbats to emote and increase their self- |
| Posted by: Spot 2006-05-17 08:31 |