A Necessary Engagement

by Nakhleh, Emile A.

• ISBN13: 9780691135250
• ISBN10: 0691135258
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-12-29
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

InA Necessary Engagement, the CIA's former point man on Islam makes a vigorous case for a renewal of American public diplomacy in the Muslim world. Offering a unique balance between in-depth analysis, personal memoir, and foreign policy remedies, the book injects much-needed wisdom into the public discussion of long-term U.S.-Muslim relations.Intelligence insider Emile Nakhleh argues that an engagement with the Muslim world benefits the national interest of the United States. Therefore, the next administration should discard the terrorism prism through which the country has viewed political Islam since 9/11 and focus instead on the common interests of America and mainstream Muslims. Nakhleh investigates recent U.S. policy toward Islamic nations and offers the new administration a ten-point plan for rebuilding America's relationship with the Muslim world. The author demonstrates that winning over Arabs and Muslims requires a thorough knowledge of Arab and Muslim cultures and languages within our intelligence community, as well as a long-term American commitment of personnel and resources. While the success of these efforts will be incremental and hard to measure, Nakhleh believes that the current low standing of the United States in most Arab and Muslim countries can be reversed.Stressing that effective public diplomacy must be a serious, coordinated effort pursued at the highest political levels,A Necessary Engagementcharts a new course for future ties between the United States and the Islamic world.

Table of Contents

Author's
Note	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Political Islam and Islamization	p. 1
Islamization and Islamic Activism	p. 4
Stages of Islamization	p. 8
Islamic Activism and Radicalization	p. 12
Islamic Radicals and WMD	p. 14
Manifestations of Islamization	p. 17
Factors Contributing to Islamization	p. 20
Education and Islamization	p. 23
Shia Activism	p. 26
Islamic Political Party Politics	p. 30
Islamic Activism, CIA Briefings, and U.S. Policy Responses	p. 33
Intelligence, Political Islam, and Policymakers	p. 37
Intelligence and Policy: Roots of Tension	p. 38
Politics Trumps National Security	p. 40
Building Expertise	p. 41
Academic Outreach	p. 43
Training of Analysts	p. 46
Cultural Expertise and Intelligence Analysis	p. 47
Open-Source Data Mining	p. 50
Visiting Muslim Countries	p. 51
Analytic Products, Briefings, and Policymakers' Response	p. 53
Iraq: Critical Briefings before and aft er the Invasion	p. 54
Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the American Response	p. 61
Authoritarian Regimes and Political Reform	p. 64
Bureaucratic Impediments	p. 66
Collecting Data on Political Islam	p. 68
Public Diplomacy: Issues and Attitudes	p. 71
Polls and Attitudes	p. 73
Global War on Terror	p. 80
Invading Muslim Countries	p. 84
Democratization	p. 90
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An "Honest Broker" Role?	p. 94
Unilateralism Resonates Poorly	p. 98
Public Diplomacy: A Blueprint	p. 101
Caveats and Challenges	p. 105
Secularists and Modernists	p. 107
Traditionalists and Radical Salafis	p. 112
Core Themes	p. 120
A Blueprint 125 Conclusion Looking Ahead	p. 140
Acknowledgments	p. 145
Glossary	p. 147
Sources Cited	p. 151
Index	p. 155
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