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.