Briefly, I have commented before on Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations (which should be titled "Clash of Common Sense"). On Memri.org, a great site you should visit if you’re concerned about perceptions and insights (not enough policymakers are when it gets down to the brass tacks), there is an interview worthwhile of watching. Dr. Wafa Sultan, speaking in Arabic and appearing on al-Jazeera goes after the Muslim clerics and political leaders who she believes distort the Koran. It’s not a clash of civilizations but a clash of modernity and "barbarism".
There is no Clash of Civiliziations… continued
So how does one use public diplomacy to civilize the “barbarians”? And what defines “barbarism”?
The battle is for the middle ground. In nearly anything, the majority is the middle. The extremes are the minorities. For those committed to a life of crime or hate, there is no solution. Depriving this minority of support mechanisms — from social to financial to political to physical shelter — and, most importantly, “getting” to future recruits before they become that is the goal here.Absent information or knowledge, what are people to believe? There will allows be outliers, radicals, and nut cases seeking some other path. This includes people who spend their life savings on psychics, or bounce around religions by Bob Dylan, Madonna, or even some nut case from Seattle (or Northern California?) who spent some time in Afghanistan (where even the Jihadists thought he was crazy)…