By Arsalan Iftikhar
April 12, 2011
Quite familiar to all foreign policy junkies around the world, the Brookings Institution recently welcomed the 8th annual ‘US-Islamic World Forum’ from April 12-14, 2011 here in Washington DC at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Although usually held every previous year in Doha, Qatar, this year marked the first time that the US-Islamic World Forum has been hosted here stateside.
According to Brookings, the 2011 Forum hosted leaders from the United States and “more than 30 Muslim-majority countries, including: Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria and Sudan.” Jointly convened with the partnership of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, the annual US-Islamic World Forum was started in 2004 and established to “promote better US-Muslim world relations in the wake of the September 11 attacks.”
Among this year’s high-profile speakers and participants included prominent Muslim leaders and Obama Administration officials including: Hillary Rodham Clinton, US Secretary of State, former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzenzinski, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, CNN host Fareed Zakaria, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,Senator John Kerry (D-MA).
This year’s 2011 US-Islamic World Forum’s first major event was the release of a major public opinion poll results on American attitudes toward the Arab and Islamic world. The newly-released poll, sponsored by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), revealed that “a majority of Americans support the recent Arab [pro-democracy] uprisings even if the resulting political landscape does not favor US interests”.
Dr. Shibley Telhami- the Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland- was the poll’s primary researcher and held a press conference at the National Press Club (NPC) here in Washington where he released some of the key findings of this April 2011 public opinion poll.
Some of the key findings of this 2011 Brookings poll on American views on the Muslim world include:
- 61% of Americans believe that the “US relationship with Muslims and the Muslim world” is a ‘Top 5′ priority for our American government;
- 76% of Americans believe that Arab and Muslim nations becoming more democratic through pro-democracy campaigns will be more positive for American interests;
- 57% of Americans agreed that they would prefer Arab or Muslim nations to be more democraticeven if it resulted in the country being opposed to US policies;
- 56% of Americans believe that democracies could be nurtured in Muslim-majority countries; and
- 59% of Americans believe that it is possible to “find common ground between Muslim and Western cultures”.
For the gala banquet dinner commemorating the culmination of the 2011 Brookings US-Islamic World Forum, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton served as the keynote speaker to our group of dinner attendees. Martin Indyk and Strobe Talbott of Brookings first introduced the opening speakers Ahmad bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud (Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for Qatar) and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (OIC Secretary General).
Finally, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began her keynote address to our dinner audience tonight by highlighting that, “I am proud that this year we are recognizing the contributions of the millions of American Muslims who do so much to make this country strong. As President Obama said in Cairo, ‘Islam has always been a part of America’s story,’ and every day American Muslims are helping to write our story” here in the United States.
Secretary Clinton continued to state our shared pressing global need to “confront violent extremism, the urgency of achieving a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians, the importance of embracing tolerance and universal human rights in all our communities.” She then pointed to the vibrant diversity of the greater Muslim world by highlighting countries “from Qatar- which is pioneering innovative energy solutions and preparing to host the [2022 Soccer] World Cup- to countries as varied as Turkey, Senegal, Indonesia and Malaysia” who each offer their own unique models for prosperity and progress.
Speaking to the rising tide of pro-democracy youth movements around the greater Middle East, Mrs. Clinton also outlined the vibrant aspirations of Arab Muslim youth who were now seeing “alternatives” to the dinosaur political regimes of their parents’ generation. “On satellite news, on Twitter and Facebook, and now in places like Cairo and Tunis,” Secretary Clinton said, “They know a better life is within reach- and they are willing to reach for it.”
Also highlighting rampant political corruption and human rights abuses within that troubled region of the world, Secretary Clinton rightfully noted that “unemployment often runs more than double the world-wide average, and even worse for women and young people.” In terms of rampant political corruption around the region, Mrs. Clinton pointed to the 2009 Global Integrity Report which stated that “Arab countries, almost without exception, have some of the weakest anti-corruption systems in the world.”
On the subject of women’s rights, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was quite clear when she said that, “All over the world, we see living proof that Islam and women’s rights are compatible. Unfortunately, some [people] are actually working to undermine this progress and export a virulently anti-woman ideology to other Muslim communities” throughout the region. According to the 2005 Arab Human Development Report, the important issue of overall women’s empowerment is considered to be “a prerequisite for an Arab renaissance, inseparably and causally linked to the fate of the Arab world.”
Secretary Clinton continued: “I want to applaud the Organization of the Islamic Conference [OIC] for its leadership in securing the recent resolution by the UN Human Rights Council that takes a strong stand against discrimination and violence based upon religion or belief, but does not limit freedom of expression or worship.”
As one Egyptian women’s rights activist accurately summed up the situation: “We will have to fight for our rights…It will be tough, and require lobbying, but that’s what democracy is all about.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton then went on to analyze the political strife in places like Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria and called upon all countries to respect universal human rights standards and emphasized to our audience that the Obama administration knows that “a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t make sense in such a diverse region at such a fluid time” in modern political history.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finished her keynote address for the 2011 Brookings US-Islamic World Forum by reminding our audience that, “the United States will [continue] to be there as a partner, working for progress. We are committed to the future of this region and we believe in the potential of its people. And we look forward to the day when all the citizens of the Middle East and North Africa and around the world have the freedom to pursue their God-given potential” to help make the world a better place to live for all.
Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and global managing editor of The Crescent Post in Washington DC.
