John Esposito, University Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, spoke at Fletcher about problems that arise when the Christian and Muslim worlds clash.
Esposito's lecture was entitled "American Foreign Policy and the Muslim World: Autocrats, Democrats, Terrorists?"
The author of more than 30 books generally dealing with political Islam, Esposito was appointed by the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Kofi Annan to be part of a group called the "Alliance of Civilizations," established last July.
According to the U.N. press report, this alliance works toward "bridging divides between societies exploited by extremists."
Part of the problem between the Christian and the Muslim worlds, Esposito said, is that the media in the West portrays Islam to be synonymous to terrorism. He recounted a story about how he was being interviewed on television, and the images that the audience saw were misleading.
"All the audience sees is that the Muslim world is equal to terrorist bombings," he said.
Esposito added that the interviewer would pose a question, and after hearing the response, would ask the same question again because the interviewer had a set way of thinking and did not understand when Esposito answered in a way opposite to what he expected to hear.
From the standpoint of the Christian world, Esposito said the Muslim world "is characterized by... anarchy, terrorism and oppression of women," partly because of the "growing extremism and growing anti-Americanism" that are rising in the region.
Esposito said that this view exists because of the actions of terrorists in the world. "Post 9/11, that perception has gotten more embedded - and for good reason," he said.
In fact, Esposito said that the war on terror has only increased the number of terrorists. This is related to how, as he said, some feel that the New World Order has become more of a unipolar world led by President Bush.
"Another perception comes in," he said. "Seeing [the world] very much as a Bush Order... he relies very heavily on the military."
Within this possible unipolar world, Esposito said the Muslim world itself is facing its own problems.
"We talk about the future of the Muslim world, we're talking about modern Muslim states," he said. "The basic flaws are still there." This includes the issue of national identity and the regal or military background of rulers.
Matters such as "artificial boundaries and multiple identities" present a "major challenge" to the Bush administration on how it will look at these problems when dealing with the Muslim world.
Not surprisingly, Esposito said religion is another highly volatile issue, both within the Muslim world and how it is viewed by the West - especially because the latter may view Islam in a one-sided manner.
"Our primary concern tends to be about religious extremists," he said. "Look at the Taliban. Look at Sudan in the past. And Iran at some point of the game."
Esposito stressed the difference between typical and radical Islamists and the importance of dealing with this difference appropriately, notably because many Westerners do not see this difference.
"We're uncomfortable dealing with mainstream Islamists," he said. "How do we view Islamists? Do we realize that in fact they can be democratic, and in fact be honest democrats? It's certainly going to be a wild card here."
There are Muslim countries that are seemingly becoming more democratic, Esposito said, but in reality change is not as apparent as it seems.
"You see a very controlled or limited form of democratization," he said.
This shows that these problems in the Muslim world do not always stem from religious reasons, but rather political ones.
Meanwhile, there is a "global jihad" growing steadily over the past 30 years, Esposito said. It is "global" because extremism in Muslim nations is nationalistic and these national movements have gone global.
But, again, referring to the political - not religious - context that has shaped conflicts such as this jihad, or struggle, Esposito said, "If we look at it ideologically...theology is a [result] of political ideology."
Regardless of the roots of the problems, this "global jihad" has still managed to become a significant issue for both Muslims and non-Muslims. Esposito said extremists provide a rationale for this jihad and allege that anyone against the jihad, Muslim or not, is an enemy. These extremists have made it "incumbent on every individual Muslim" to join the struggle.
From the viewpoint of the Muslim world, Esposito said there is a fascination with the Christian Right in the United States and how it influences the administration and Congress. This leads to unease toward Western Christianity, and coupled with existing Western attitudes of the Muslim world, "you have both a fear of Islam and Muslims, and America and the West," he said.
Returning to the growth of democracy in the Arab world, Esposito said while "we continue to see a movement toward broader democratization in the region, we need to keep in mind that this is a very limited [form] of democratization. We're going to continue to see autocratic leaders dig in."
Esposito said the failure of true democracy to take shape in the Muslim world has led to many Muslims becoming disillusioned with the state of democracy, as shown in the case of Iraq.
"How successful is Iraq, and what does that mean?" he asked. "I'm really very skeptical about talking about Iraq and how it will turn out."
Esposito expressed doubt that the present American government or ones in the near future would be able to alleviate the problems in Iraq. "It's not clear to me at all that any administration... will have any significant impact," he said.
Both the Christian and Muslim worlds are facing problems that need to be addressed to expedite improvement in relations with each other.
"The challenges that exist are that on one hand, the governments in the [Arab] region have to move toward broader political participation and enhancement of civil society," and the West must give more aid to the region and figure out how much pressure it will put on the Muslim world to reform.
The problem with reform in the Muslim world, Esposito said, is that "the process of reform is that usually there's a small group of reformers," and they are persecuted and repressed by the government. In addition, most entrenched religious organizations are uninterested in reform and militant leaders vehemently are opposed to it.
Esposito said people must take action to fix relations between the Christian and Muslim worlds, not just talk about it.
"Ideas don't change the world," he said. "How you institutionalize those ideas [is what starts the process]."
Esposito admitted that the road to improved diplomacy will be long and arduous. "I think it's going to [take] a generation before things get turned around," he said. "It's going to be a long haul."
Esposito's lecture was part of the Charles Francis Adams lecture series at the Fletcher School. Approximately 130 students and faculty were in attendance.
