Encouraging the Rise of Moderate Islam
During the Cold War the West supported various pro-democracy and anti-Communist voices throughout the world, and the same can be done today. Why not empower moderates within the Muslim world? Why not intervene in what is often defined as a civil war for the soul of Islam in support of those who espouse positions that are compatible with our national interest?
- Lorenzo Vidino, author of Al Qaeda in Europe, writing in The Boston Globe
It’s an argument that we are hearing a lot lately: the best way to fight Islamic extremism is to support moderate Islam. As Vidino writes, this approach would be the “best antidote to the radical ideology that is generating most of the terrorism and violence throughout the world.”
An increasing number of analysts are saying this same thing. Our aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East has only worsened the danger posed by Islamic extremism, they argue, by radicalizing many Muslims and increasing anti-American and anti-Western sentiment throughout the region. An alternative strategy, in part, should be focused on trying to prop up moderate Muslims so that they can balance the rising forces of radical Islam, these analysts say. Vidino’s op-ed, which appeared earlier this month in The Boston Globe, is part of a growing literature that advocates this new approach to engaging with the Muslim world and mitigating the problem of Islamic extremism.
But would this new approach lead to the sort of moderate, liberal Islamic tradition that would be so beneficial to our interests? I analyze this question in a new post at Foreign Policy Watch.
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12 Responses to “Encouraging the Rise of Moderate Islam”
I second your doubts and concerns.
In addtition, any moderate group discovered to have US backing would become an immediate target for attack.
It’s’ a very difficult situation.
Anything we try would have to be super clandestine and definitely weaponless.
The best route for U.S. aid is through non-governmental organizations. That will help conceal the “taint” and have the side benefits of increased multilateralism in U.S. foreign policy and increased distribution of the aid by people who are culturally familiar the areas where the aid will be used.
I read somewhere about an old aid program to Pakistan that sought to build schools and train teachers so that students would have an alternative to the madrassas.
I agree with Jason and.. I also think that in the Muslim world, an elite has to stand up that opposes radicals and is willing to wage war against them (see, yes, Turkey’s history).
I am currently reading much about Turkey, about it’s founding by Atatürk, and I have to say: I am learning a lot from it.
“In addtition, any moderate group discovered to have US backing would become an immediate target for attack.”
Exactly. Many moderate Muslims may not like the extremists, but they hate us more. For instance, pro-democracy groups in Iran would be ruined if they were found to have the support of the US. Unfortunately we have to get it into our heads that people can simultaneously hate us AND want a democracy. Any help towards democracy or moderation would have to happen so under cover that even the recipients of the aid wouldn’t know it was us.
An additional problem is the way extremists operate rhetorically. Any moderate leaders that rise are instantly confronted with accusations from the radicals that they are U.S. puppets, even if the U.S. actually supports them not at all and even if they go out of their way to criticize the U.S.
Its the same phenomenon that we can see on the comment threads around here all the time. Any time someone questions the lefties, that person is accused of being a “Bush sycophant” or something similar.
Well, its the same phenomenon, except with the death penalty.
Jason -
I’m sure you nobly refrain from categorizing comments and commentators?
Jason- when I first posted here, someone compared me to Michael Moore- even though I have never seen any of his movies, just because I disagree with Bush’s Iraq policy. So, it goes both ways, believe me. There are a lot of people who disagree with Bush’s policies, but aren’t part of the far left fringe.
Fair enough. Its wrong either way.
The U. S. is on the horns of a dilemma. There are plenty of “moderate Muslims”—millions in Indonesia and Malaysia, Mali, and Senegal. Unfortunately, their numbers in the Middle East and, especially, in Arab countries are much more limited.
If you reward both the moderate and the immoderate, you reward no one. If you support the moderate in, for example, the countries listed above, you isolate the Middle East and it gets worse there.
“Many moderate Muslims may not like the extremists, but they hate us more.”
That’s hardly universal and no reason at all not to try.
The real issue, as has been pointed out by several others, is the physical security of those who would oppose the radicals. As Michael said, being prepared to fight back is essential.
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