Event Summary
Relations between the United States and the Muslim world have deteriorated markedly in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. The reasons for this deterioration are deep-seated and complex, but both the United States and Muslim-majority states and communities have a profound interest in getting this important relationship right.
Event Information
When
Friday, December 12, 2008
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Where
Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
Map
For the last five years, Brookings’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy has hosted an annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum designed to build bridges of understanding. On December 12, the Center’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World hosted a discussion of The Doha Compact – New Directions: America and the Muslim World, a new report that encapsulates the ideas developed at the forum. Signed by 46 leaders from the United States and the Muslim World, the Doha Compact argues that the election of a new U.S. president presents a moment of great opportunity for the United States and Muslim leaders to recast their relations toward a partnership based on common interests and mutual respect.
Panelists included Stephen Grand, fellow and director of the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World; Saad Eddin Ibrahim, chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Egypt; and Ahmed Younis, an analyst for the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies and author of American Muslims: Voir Dire [Speak the Truth] (Dawn Books LLC, 2002). Grand provided introductory remarks and Jackson Diehl, deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post, moderated the discussion.
Transcript
STEPHEN GRAND: The new president, as Jackson alluded to, will inherit a very troubled relationship with many Muslim-majority countries and communities that has deteriorated substantially since 9/11. As the recent Mumbai attacks tragically underscored, both the United States and the Muslim world have a profound interest in getting this important relationship right and setting it on a new path. And as Jackson alluded to, we have with the inauguration of a new president a real moment to write a new chapter in this often troubled relationship.
The compact argues that the United States and the Muslim world together face a number of critical challenges that are best addressed in partnership. For example, the United States needs the support of Muslims across the globe if it is to defeat terrorist groups like al Qaeda. Many Muslim-majority states must reform if they are to address the profound socioeconomic and political challenges confronting their societies and compete effectively in a globalized world. As Jackson mentioned, the policy recommendations in this compact are grouped around four basic themes. First, adopting a new style of American foreign policy. Second, addressing together the conflicts divide us. Third, understanding the role of Islam in the Muslim world. And fourth, educating and investing in people.
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Participants
Moderator
Jackson Diehl
Deputy Editorial Page Editor, The Washington Post
Panelists
Director, U.S. Relations with the Islamic World
Saad Eddin Ibrahim
Chairman, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, Egypt
Ahmed Younis
Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies