Instead, the Bush administration is trying a more overt campaign to win support. After pondering reams of focus-group results and opinion polls, the State Department believes it has found two themes that unite America and Islam: faith and families. Administration officials claim we’re actually closer to some Muslim countries than to traditional U.S. allies. Former Madison Avenue executive Charlotte Beers, the new under secretary of State for public diplomacy, says Americans rate “faith” as the fifth most important factor in life. It’s No. 1 in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia–and, says Beers with a grin, No. 42 in France. Her office has already produced a well-received series of video ads featuring Muslim families in America. In 2003 the plan is to build support with variations on those themes. Among the ideas currently on the drawing board: a new U.S.-backed Arabic youth magazine and a version of “Sesame Street” to teach Arab kids about computers.
A “clash of civilizations” is far from inevitable. Arabs’ grievances against the United States are few and specific. On the most troublesome of these problems, the Palestinian issue, Bush’s expressed “two state” policy goes beyond that of any previous administration in its recognition of basic Arab rights. Putting the policy into practice would deprive the jihadists of their favorite pretext for attacking America. After all, there’s only so much that soldiers–or salespeople–can do.
