THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 158, July 22, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
OBAMA'S PUZZLING APPROACH TO THE MUSLIM WORLD
By Raymond Ibrahim
PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA & AMERICAN FOREIGN & NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY VIS-A-VIS THE ISLAMIC
WORLD: IS PRESIDENT OBAMA USING TO ADVANTAGE HIS MUSLIM ROOTS & FAMILIARITY WITH THE ISLAMIC
WORLDVIEW TO EFFECTIVELY PROMOTE U.S. STRATEGIC NATIONAL INTERESTS ABROAD & COUNTER THE GLOBAL JIHAD
BEING WAGED BY THE ISLAMISTS AGAINST THE U.S.A. & WESTERN CIVILIZATION? IS OBAMA SINCERE IN HIS
APPROACH TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD?
FULL STORY:
President Barack Obama and I have one thing in common shared by few Americans: we were brought up by at least
one parent — biological or step is irrelevant — who was born and raised in an Islamic milieu. Intimately aware of the
inevitable effects of this, I must question Obama's sincerity in his approach to the Islamic world.
While I was born and raised in the U.S.A., my parents were born and raised in Egypt. Even though they were
Christians (Copts), it was only natural that they would adopt an "Islamicate" worldview, that is, a worldview based
on Islamic culture and society, though obviously not Islamic dogma. As a result, while I share and appreciate the
Western worldview, so too am I intimately acquainted with the Islamic world's weltanschauung.
This is a worldview typified by cynicism and stoicism: a belief that humanity is intrinsically opportunistic, selfish, and
warlike; that might not only makes right, but almost should; that those in the right do not apologize or appease, but
rather assert; a survival-of-the-fittest mentality; and, above all, sheer contempt for perceived weakness and
equivocation, or, in Islamic parlance, emasculate behavior. Let's call this a worldview based on "primordial politics."
Anyone who has spent time in the Islamic world or held sincere conversations with people from there — Muslim or
Christian makes no difference — will know this to be true. In short, the worldview of the average person from the
Islamic world is the antithesis of the postmodern, "therapeutic" worldview of the liberal (constitutional democratic
capitalist) West, where "feelings," "mutual respect," "toleration," and the ability to "express oneself" are paramount.
This is only natural: people bred in harsh environments (e.g., the vast majority of the Islamic world) are not impressed
by soft or sublime words.
It bears repeating that these qualities are not so much due to Islam per se; rather, they have an ancient lineage and
have permeated almost every major culture, including that of the West (e.g., the "neocons"). It is the postmodern,
liberal worldview that is aberrant to human history, that is a dot in a long continuum of realpolitik. Living and dying in
the height of our era — human lives are so short — it is easy to overlook the evanescence of this epistemology.
Islamic culture, on the other hand, whose essence is trapped in the Medieval Era (thanks primarily to the concept of
sunna), is by far the staunchest champion of primordial politics.
Here, then, is the problem: If I and countless other second-generationers are intimately (if not instinctually) aware of
the aforementioned worldview by simply having parents from the Islamic world, surely Barack Hussein Obama — who,
atop that, spent a major chunk of his youth in the Islamic world (Indonesia), being raised by a Muslim stepfather — is
also aware of the predominance of this worldview. This is especially the case, since almost everyone — friend or foe
— makes it a point to say that Obama is a very "insightful" man, "in tune" with the rest of the world.
Thus, he, of all American leaders, should know that the sort of idealistic, "feel-good" talk of mutual respect (i.e.,
appeasement), such as he often gives, while moving to his constituency, will have little effect on the people of the
Islamic world — except, perhaps, to breed more contempt for the American "paper tiger," Osama bin Laden's
appellation for the U.S.A. during Clinton's era. So why does Obama do it? Indeed, why does he do so more than other
Western leaders (whose naivety is somewhat justified, in that they do not have the insights afforded by Obama's
background)?
This reminds one of Islamist tactics. Al-Qa'ida, for instance, which is well acquainted with both the Western and Islamic
worldviews, has made it a point to speak a "language" that Westerners understand (mutual respect, justice, tolerance,
etc.) and another that Muslims understand (jihad, honor, conquest) — both diametrically opposed. The purpose, of
course, is to buy the Islamic world time to grow stronger and receive concessions, while lulling the West into thinking
that all conflict will end with just a bit more respect and appeasement for Muslims — concepts alien to the Islamic
worldview, where respect and appeasement are articulated solely through an Islamic paradigm, i.e., non-Muslims
(infidels) get neither.
Obama achieves the same end by doing the opposite: he speaks to Muslims in a language which only Westerners
appreciate, but which the majority of Muslims scoff at. In both cases — whether the fine platitudes come from Osama or
Obama — only Americans are being deceived into thinking peace is a matter of "winning hearts and minds."
Prior to the 2008 presidential election, many hailed Obama's Muslim roots, his "otherness," as strategic to endearing the
Muslim world to the U.S.A. In fact, his unique ability to appreciate the Islamic world's epistemology — his experiences,
not his name — was the real bonus. Unfortunately, not only is he not making use of this advantage; he is spearheading
the reverse — apologies, concessions, and soft talk — all which will inevitably promote an even more assertive Muslim
response. Yet, he, of all American Presidents, should — indeed, does — know better.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Government & the U.S. Presidency:
Presidential Politics & National Leadership
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Raymond Ibrahim is the Associate Director of the Middle East Forum and the author of The Al Qa'ida Reader
(New York: Doubleday, 2007).
The foregoing article by Mr. Ibrahim was originally published in Pajamas Media, July 17, 2009, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/2408/obama-approach-to- muslim-world)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
July 22, 2009
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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