June 28th, 2007 by Shir

President Bush spoke yesterday at the annual rededication of the Islamic Center of Washington DC. In his remarks he gave an overview of past and present foreign policy toward Muslim states and rejected notions that the United States is at war with Islam. However the three most salient features of his public address were 1) his announcement to send a special envoy representing the U.S. at the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), 2) issues of religious freedom and democracy in Muslim states, and 3) the argument that extremist organizations like Al-Qaeda pose the biggest threat to Islam itself.

Concerning his appointment to the OIC, it is clear that the newly created envoy position is meant to bolster America’s failing image in Muslim states. However the effectiveness of this new position, whose purpose is to “share American values” is unlikely to have any significant impact on Muslims’ perceptions of the US. Polls like a recent Gallup survey show, Muslims’ anger is not toward American political values, rather, “It’s the Policy Stupid.”

As for features two and three of President Bush’s speech, in my analysis, they are intertwined. Modern Sunni Islam is characterized by a “crisis of authority” that is largely due to Statist interference in Islamic discourse and centers of learning. Modern authoritarian governments co-opting and/or coercing clerics to endorse corrupt state policy rather than Islamic principles of justice and accountability have led people to distrust the traditional religious leadership, creating “a profound vacuum in religious authority.” As a result of these violations of international religious freedom, “this self-appointed vanguard” – as President Bush rightly calls them – of Al-Qaeda et al. has the intellectual space to grow.

It is good to hear the President making these observations, however actions need to follow suit. Robust commitments to long-term democratic reforms that include religious freedom are needed, not special envoys. Violent religious radicalism is not caused by Muslims’ misunderstanding of American values; it is caused by a lack of democratic governance that has lead to a misunderstanding of Islam.

Alejandro J. Beutel is a Program Assistant at the Minaret of Freedom Institute (www.minaret.org) and a member of the Project on Middle East Democracy.

Posted in Political Islam |