American perspectives and views

¶ … America

Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, towards the end of her fourth year in office stressed the significant need to improve the relations between the United States and the diverse communities that make up the Islamic world. She went on to add that the United States harbored no interest to maintain hostile relations and rather it was more important for reasons ranging from stability to development, to support for the rule of law that was common between most of the Muslim-majority states that these relations be improved. She herself admits that the attempts of cooperation have been hindered by the view of most Muslims that the U.S. is hostile or indifferent to the Muslim world. She goes on to add how this can be done. "As representatives of America, we must explain our policies to Muslim audiences overseas in ways that engage their attention, respect their beliefs, and demonstrate understanding, but which also rebut those who distort our motives or unfairly judge our actions. This poses one of the great challenges to our public diplomacy." (Why We Need to Learn More about Islam) She advises that the information in regard to the policies of the United States having been designed in a manner to advance peace, justice, prosperity, and follow of international norms need to be emphasized repeatedly to the Muslim world. It also needs to be put across, that the policies of the United States have not been founded on nor do they attempt to make distinctions on the basis of religious faith. (Why We Need to Learn More about Islam) This advice of Madeleine Albright Secretary of State not only stresses the need to alter the attitude of the Muslim world towards the United States, but she also makes out that it is feasible and provides the ways and means to do it in brief.

The most compelling reason for the need for improving relations with the Muslim World is the war on terrorism in general and the Al Qaeda particular. The current strategy of the administration appears to be the hunting down of terrorists. The 9/11 commission report indicates that the United States needs a more far reaching policy than this, as in the view of the commission the United States faces a radical ideological movement in the Islamic and Arab world. The long-term success in the war on terrorism is based on the ability of the United States to prevent the Al Qaeda from constantly replenishing itself. Thus the focus of the war on terrorism must be balanced between stopping the Al Qaeda from availing of new recruits and the hunting down of the existing terrorists. Priority should be given to the former. To be successful in stopping the recruitment by Al Qaeda, the support of the moderate Muslim World becomes very significant and this mandates that the United States makes efforts to improve the relations with the Muslim World. (To Defeat Al Qaeda, U.S. Must Build Trust of Moderate Muslims)