U.S.-Muslim World Relationship Woes

Sept. 19, 2007 -- This week Opportunity 08 takes a closer look at closer look at how the next president should shape a strategy for improving our relationship with the Muslim world.

In recent remarks on Iraq, President Bush said that "America has a vital interest in preventing chaos and providing hope in the Middle East. We should be able to agree that we must defeat al Qaeda, counter Iran, help the Afghan government, work for peace in the Holy Land, and strengthen our military so we can prevail in the struggle against terrorists and extremists."

But Brookings experts Peter Singer and Hady Amr say military strength is not the key to progress in the war against terrorism – they say progress is dependent on success in the "war of ideas." "In no area could the Bush Administration's foreign policy be described as meek, except for public diplomacy and strategic communications," say Amr and Singer. "The Administration's combination of an aggressive foreign policy and a feeble effort to maintain our voice and credibility in the world leaves the next President with an historic challenge."

The citizens of many predominantly Muslim nations hold a dim view of the United States. Few American political and military institutions employ people well-versed in the language or culture of the Muslim world. "By any measure, America's efforts at communicating with Muslim-majority nations since 9/11 have not been successful. The efforts have lacked energy, focus, and an overarching, integrated strategy," say Singer and Amr.

They argue that five broad principles must guide a strategy to influence foreign publics and strengthen relationships between American citizens and institutions and their counterparts abroad, including:

Dialogue: Instead of just producing propaganda, the effort should be audience-centered and designed to build dialogue. It should emphasize "listening" as much as "talking."

Outreach: Rather than "preaching to the choir," the United States should engage a varied set of regional constituencies, including social conservatives who may be controversial but carry the greatest influence within the target populations

Integration: Diverse U.S. agencies should develop a coordinated goal-oriented communications approach, in order to maximize effectiveness. Nimble response: Strategies and programs should be flexible and responsive to changing events, and findings, and should use new technologies and tactics.

Investment: The investment should reflect the high strategic priority of the war of ideas to ensuring American security.Amr and Singer recommend several specific policy initiatives to back this strategy, and they stress that the next president should, "take personal steps to use a limited window of opportunity to 'reboot' that relationship, such as an early presidential trip to Muslim nations, meeting with reporters from Arabic-language media, and clearly condemning anti-Islamic bias."

A full version of this proposal, as well as supporting background material, is available at www.opportunity08.org.

About the Experts and the Project

Hady Amr is a fellow at the Brookings Institution and is the author of the 2004 Brookings analysis paper "The Need to Communicate: How to Improve U.S. Public Diplomacy with the Islamic World". He has served in the U.S. Department of Defense Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. He was senior advisor to the World Economic Forum Council of 100 Leaders on Western-Islamic World Relations.

Peter Singer is a senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at Brookings and is the former director of the Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World. He has written two books on changes in modern warfare and served on the Balkans Task Force in the U.S. Department of Defense. He is also the author of the Brookings analysis paper, "The 9-11 War Plus 5."

Opportunity 08 aims to help 2008 presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, presenting policy ideas on a wide array of domestic and foreign policy questions. The project is committed to providing both independent policy solutions and background material on issues of concern to voters.