Urgent need to erase negative perceptions

Pakistan and some other Muslim countries are facing relentless criticism in the western media despite their status as "indispensable allies" of the United States.

The security alliances of these Muslim nations have failed to translate into true friendship with the West, largely because of divergent world views and strategic concerns. Several recent opinion polls have highlighted the widespread negative perception of U.S. policies in Arab and Muslim countries.

On the other hand, a recent survey of American public opinion, published by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR), showed that while the importance of key Islamic countries is recognised across the U.S., Muslim states are not looked upon favourably.

For example, 61 per cent of Americans consider Saudi Arabia an unreliable partner in the war against terrorism. The figure for those considering Pakistan very reliable in this survey stood at a mere 10 per cent, compared with 50 per cent who find Pakistan unreliable and 33 per cent who think it is only somewhat reliable.

The CCFR also developed a public opinion thermometer to gauge the degree of warmth that Americans feel towards different countries of the world in the aftermath of last year's September 11 terror attacks. Pakistan scored 31 and warmth for Saudi Arabia stood at 33 degrees, compared with a 76-degree warmth for Great Britain, 60 degrees for Japan and Mexico, 55 degrees for Israel and 46 degrees for India.

Just as public opinion surveys in the Muslim world point out the lack of support in the streets for U.S. policies, this survey demonstrates that leading Muslim states attract little enthusiasm and sympathy in Middle America.

Some Muslim ideologues are likely to use these findings, and the persistent criticism of leading Muslim governments, to claim that the Muslim world and the west led by the United States are on a collision course. But, according to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations survey, only 27 per cent of Americans think that a clash between Muslims and the West is inevitable.

An encouraging 66 per cent believes that we can find common ground and that the clash of civilisations can be avoided. The average American does not want the United States to take sides between Israel and the Palestinians, weakening the argument of hardliners that it is fair to hate the U.S. because of its support for Israel.

An overwhelming 71 per cent of the respondents in the CCFR survey said the U.S. should not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, against 25 per cent who said the U.S. should take Israel's side. Only one per cent of those polled said they wanted Washington to back the Palestinians instead of remaining neutral or supporting Israel.

In the light of these findings, the CCFR survey should help the leaders of Muslim states allied to the U.S. to understand where they have gone wrong in maintaining close ties with the west.

Muslim countries have built strategic partnerships with the decision-makers in the U.S. foreign policy establishment just as Washington has backed these leaders in return for oil or military cooperation.

There is no effort by either side to expand relations by appealing to public opinion. In the aftermath of Al Qaida's attacks in New York and Washington, westerners are spending a great deal of time, resources and energy in identifying the causes of Muslim rage against the United States.

But similar introspection is missing in the Muslim world. Americans are keen to understand why some people hate them enough to want to fly planes into buildings and to blow themselves up while trying to kill innocent civilians. Shouldn't Muslim leaders ask themselves the reasons for western mistrust of states that are ostensibly allied to the West?

Western civilisation admires achievement and creativity and Muslims have fared poorly in both spheres since their encounter with western ascendancy. The 56 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) account for one-fifth of the world's population but their combined GDP is less than the GDP of France.

The 22 Arab countries, including the Gulf States, account for a combined GDP less than that of Spain alone. Almost 60 per cent of the world's Muslim population are illiterate. Muslims are noticeably absent from the list of inventors or innovators in science and technology.

The only 'Muslim' to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific discipline (Dr. Abdus Salam, the Pakistani physicist) is not considered a Muslim under the law of his country of birth. Muslim output in literature is abysmally low.

The arts remain marginalised in most Muslim states. While ideas direct the course of power in the west, those in power control the flow of ideas in the Muslim world. An example of the difference between the Muslim and the western world is the manner in which each appears to approach religious controversy.

Jewish Rabbis and Christian priests write books and produce television shows to make their point while Muslims riot in the streets or attack the opponent physically when faced with a perceived insult to their religion. As a result, the Muslim world is seen by the West as oil-rich but ideas-poor and certainly unworthy of admiration or respect.

Instead of working towards bridging this "knowledge gap", most Muslim leaders have directed their energies towards generating anger towards the West's hegemony and self-centredness.

There is little discussion in Pakistan, for example, of the internal weaknesses of the nation or how to redress them. The country's external enemies and their real and perceived conspiracies are the focus of most discourse.

Muslims may have suffered a setback from colonial rule and the injustice meted out to Palestinians, Chechens and Kashmiris currently under occupation is a real issue that needs to be tackled. But the failure of Muslim societies to educate themselves, expand their economies or to invent and innovate cannot be attributed solely to the colonial experience or unresolved post-colonial disputes.

The result of the focus on "external enemies" is the creation of what some western scholars have termed the victim's mindset among Muslims. Extremism is a by-product of this mindset among those who think their victimhood justifies a violent and brutal response.

The lack of creativity in the Muslim world is partly the result of authoritarianism. It is difficult to generate new ideas in an atmosphere that demands conformity.

Recently the German opposition leader, Edmund Stoiber, opposed Turkey's accession to the European Union on grounds that "Turkey isn't part of Europe's community of values".

Almost eight decades ago, Ataturk harmonised the Turkish dress code, legal system and alphabet with Europe, and the Turkish army has repeatedly used force to enforce its anti-religious version of secularism since 1960.

Why then can't Turkey convince Herr Stoiber of being part of "Europe's community of values"? Perhaps it is because the west is not impressed by adoption of its alphabet or dress. If Turkey had adhered to its traditions but embraced genuine pluralism and attained a significant place for itself in the marketplace of ideas, it would have been looked upon with greater resp