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World of Opinion

5 min read

On NATO’s newly appointed secretary general: All of Turkey expected (NATO’s next secretary general) Anders Fogh Rasmussen to publicly apologize for a Danish newspaper printing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons. Of course, there was no such apology. It would be absurd for a prime minister to apologize for what a newspaper printed. But the fuss about Fogh Rasmussen … shows how inflammatory his appointment was for NATO. …

Turkish government sources apparently spread the claim that the (incoming) secretary general had promised to apologize and also to finally close a Kurdish TV-station in Denmark. They grossly overestimated their influence. …

The problem for NATO is that alliance has gotten a prime minister who must constantly balance on a diplomatic tightrope because of his own opinions and earlier statements.

The biggest problem is that the strongest supporter of the USA’s offensive war on Iraq is now going to lead the defense alliance NATO.

On Barack Obama’s European visit:

Barack Obama’s European visit is over and even if there have been some demonstrations, the welcome has been warm overall. … The contrast to George W. Bush’s last moments in power couldn’t be sharper.

The are also many signs many of a new American foreign policy. Obama has ordered the closing of the Guantanamo prison camp, he’s reached out a hand to Iran, tried to improve relations with Russia, emphasized the importance of international organizations and has said that a nuclear-free world is possible.

All this is music to European leaders’ ears. The U.S. therefore seems to have regained its ‘soft power,’ or … getting countries to want what you want instead of getting them to do what you want.

But, one might ask, has it helped? …

Professor Peter Feaver writes in Foreign Policy, that, ahead of Obama’s trip, the U.S. wanted Europe to adopt a more American stance toward the financial crisis, shoulder a greater military responsibility in Afghanistan and receive prisoners from Guantanamo.

The result, Feaver writes, has mainly been the opposite. …

On NATO:

Logistically, America is holding back the Taliban with only auxiliary help from Europe. And that, for now, is the limit of U.S. ambition. The strategy is to pin the insurgency back to a few areas, hoping to buy enough time for some kind of indigenous political process to set down roots in the rest of the country. …

Progress, however incremental, has been made in restoring basic civil rights to ordinary Afghans. That, in turn, has helped mitigate the sacrifices made as a consequence of military occupation, among Afghan civilians and NATO forces.

But there are signs that the limits of liberalization have been reached. To shore up his position ahead of elections later this year, President Hamid Karzai recently backed a law giving men of the country’s Shia minority total dominion over their wives, legalizing child marriage, rape and incarceration inside the home. Even if, as seems likely, pressure from NATO leaders forces Mr. Karzai to withdraw the law, questions remain over whether or not he can be trusted to uphold the country’s post-Taliban constitution. …

The west cannot support civil rights in Afghanistan without local support. But by definition the Afghans whose rights are most under threat are those who are least able to show support for the occupation. Yet they would be betrayed if NATO lost the will to fight on and the country descended into chaos.

On President Barack Obama and the Muslim world:

It is encouraging to see a shift in America’s policy towards the Muslim world. US President Barack Obama’s statement that America will never be at a war with Islam is welcome. It is hoped that this line of thinking will mark the beginning of a healthy relationship between the US and the Muslim world.

In his first visit as president to a Muslim country (Turkey), Obama called for a partnership with the Islamic world, including in the fight against terrorism. “The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical … in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject,” Obama said, in his address to the Turkish parliament.

Further, Obama clarified that the U.S. will not treat Muslims or view Islam narrowly within the confines of what Al Qaida stands for and represents. There is no doubt that Obama’s reconciliatory approach will be beneficial. But he has to take practical steps to move beyond mere promises and implement these stances.The U.S. will find many parties in the Muslim world willing to extend a hand of cooperation – one that is based on mutual respect. But most important of all is for Obama to look at the Muslim world beyond the confines of politics and build on what it represents in the cultural, historical, social and economic arenas.

Yet peace is not only America’s prerogative. The Muslim world should play a pro-active role and become engaged in the process. As a matter of fact, this is an opportunity for Muslims across the globe. They can help build bridges with others, both in Muslim as much as in non-Muslim communities and countries.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/dh44q9

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_AP-ES-04-08-09 1324EDT

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