Beyond the Clash of Civilizations:
The Global Importance of Illiberal Moderates
(An online resource collection)
What follows is a list of articles, op-eds, and essays by Amitai Etzioni on the subject of 'illiberal moderates'.
Please send your comments and questions to comnet@gwu.edu.
Let them wear Scarves
(Originally Posted on The Huffington Post, April 10, 2008)
Can you explain to me why thoughtful people, including several renowned public intellectuals, oppose the right of women to choose to wear headscarves -- on campuses out of all places? The same people, commentators, editors, and other talking heads who strongly hold that a woman has a right to do with her body whatever she pleases -- third trimester abortions, abortions without notifying her husband, piercing everything that sticks out and a lot that does not -- but not to cover her hair with a piece of cloth.
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Who Are Moderate Muslims?
(Originally posted on Talking Points Memo, February 13, 2008)
Joshua Muravchik and Charles P. Szrom address this vital question directly in their article in the February issue of Commentary. The importance of this question is well summarized in a quote they provide from Daniel Pipes: “radical Islam is the problem and moderate Islam the solution.” That is, it is wrong to treat all the followers of the Prophet as if they were terrorists or their supporters (the way Samuel Huntington and Sir Bernard Lewis do); it is equally mistaken to view Islam as a religion of peace, which is sometimes “hijacked” by terrorist to justify their act (as President Bush pronounced). It is an empirical fact of considerable ethical and political import that Muslims—like followers of all other major belief systems, religious and secular—differ greatly from one another. Some could make good allies; some, sadly, are unavoidable enemies. The key question is: who is who?
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Turkey’s Misunderstood Moderate Muslims
(Originally posted on The National Interest Online, May 10, 2007)
The constitutional amendment that would lead to direct elections of the Turkish president, replacing the current election by parliament, is in the interest of the United States. This course is best followed despite the fact that direct elections are likely to lead to a head of state who is an observant Muslim.
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Support the AK!
(Originally posted on The Huffington Post July 20, 2007)
Turkey will hold elections on July 22. If I could vote, I would support the Justice and Development Party (AK) despite the fact that it alarms the secularists in Turkey and elsewhere. The reason that the AK deserves all our votes goes well beyond what is about to happen in this one nation. AK is a moderate Muslim party, made up of exactly the kind of Muslims we should be supporting as the best antidote to the extremists.
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Fewer Enemies, More (Potential) Allies
(Originally posted on The Huffington Post September 21, 2007)
I know these lines are going to cost me. At least two dinner invitations that have been previously extended are going to be withdrawn summarily. The Hyper Liberal club of Washington, D.C. may well declare me persona non grata. And the abuse I am taking on the blogosphere may rise at least one more decibel -- not a small feat given its current level. Nevertheless, what is one to do? Truth be told, Karen Hughes, the Public Diplomacy Tsar of the Condi Rice State Department--and member of the Bush administration--aced it: in an op-ed in The Washington Post on September 17, she pointed out that Muslim majorities in numerous Muslim nations (including the larger ones) are rejecting terrorism, suicide bombers and bin Laden. Moreover, recent data show that these ranks are increasing by leaps and bounds.
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Illiberal Moderates; an introduction
(short version)
As social analysis suffers from an over-abundance of terms, the introduction of any new term calls for justification. After a few lines concerning matters of definition, we shall see that the term “illiberal moderates” serves to highlight a profound difference in one’s view of the world, points to a major shift in the direction of foreign policy, and speaks volumes as to the question of what makes a good citizen. It serves to show that although large segments of the people of the world, Muslims included, do not favor Western-style liberal democratic regimes, they abhor terrorism and war. It highlights the deep difference between a foreign policy that seeks to rely on military force to democratize nations (“regime change”), one that views all illiberals as a threat to global stability and national security—and a foreign policy that views all those who swear off terrorism and war as at least potential allies, allowing gradual and largely homegrown democratization to follow.
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The Global Importance of Illiberal Moderates
(Published in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs Volume 19, Number 3, September 2006)
In contrast to the claim that the most significant fault line in contemporary global affairs is between the civilisation of the West and all others, this essay argues that the schism between those who advance their values through violence and those who rely on persuasion, both of which are present in all civilisations, is the greatest source of conflict in the post-Cold-War era. Moderates come in many stripes: some are liberal, such as Reform Jews and Social Democrats, while most others are illiberal, including many Muslim religious leaders. All moderates, however, share in common a principled rejection of violence. Polls and reports fiom around the world bear out that a conviction of the value of persuasion over coercion does not depend on faith in democracy or secularism. The West should ally itself with such moderates, no matter how liberal or illiberal their orientation.
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