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Ethics & International Affairs
Annual Journal of the
Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs
Crafting a New Alliance with the Muslim World
Omar Noman
Abstract
Most Muslims now live in democracies—a fact that is rarely acknowledged. The Muslim world has also elected five women heads of state in the past decade.1 These two indicators are symbolic of the diversity within the Muslim world, and also of the direction in which that world is headed.
Few Muslims wish to be classified in a category that would prevent them from participating in the benefits of modernity. The pull of mass education, commerce, trade, and engagement with the world is strong. But these possibilities are openings that radical Islam is attempting to close off, which has led to an ideological civil war within Islam. In country after country, the middle class, the elite, and most of the poor are frightened by an austere version of theocratic Islam that has managed to gain political leverage. In order to sustain modern governments and access to the world in which they want to be active contributors, Muslims need an alliance with the West—not a confrontation.
The most visible aspect of the post–September 11 world, however, has been a confrontation: the United States’ military response to the attacks. It has been far more extensive than anyone might have expected. It has involved a war against Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime and, more significant, a global effort to fight armed, militant Islamic groups. Launching a war against Afghanistan was, politically, the relatively easy part. The Taliban were despised in most of the Muslim world, and their form of religious fascism produced widespread revulsion among Muslims. The two supporters of the Taliban regime—the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia—ultimately did not face popular opposition to the invasion of Afghanistan. Though there were a few “sympathizers” (motivated either by strategic interests or ideology), their resistance was not a significant constraint on foreign policy.
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