Where did the Mohammed Cartoons come from? A Danish "culture editor" who is a fan of Richard Perle.
You are not saying that this was a US plot, are you?
The cartoons were published in many European papers out of solidarity. And EU politicians defended the publication.
The US media (with small excpetions) did not print the cartoons. And US politicians criticized the cartoons.
On the cartoon issue: The US was the appeaser, while Europeans defended our liberties. Fine, but some papers were overly insensitive to Muslim feelings.
Please excuse the generalization based on time constraints: Many Arabs have an inferiority complex. And we in the West are to blame, because we often rub into their face: Undemocratic, few liberties, bad economy, bad science, bad technology, hardly any internationally well-known authors/musicians/sports stars etc. They only thing they have left to feel proud of is religion. And then our papers need to make a statement about press freedom and not being cowards and appeasers and they reprint the cartoons.
So, to answer my own question about what needs to be done: Forget about democracy promotion. We don't have much credibility or expertise to do so. Let's find a way to boos self-respect in the Arab world. Avoid humiliating the Arabs.
Of course, this is very difficult. And it should not mean appeasement or ignoring human rights violations etc. I have no clue how to make Arabs more proud and self respecting and feel less humiliated and have less of an inferiority complex etc.
You oversimplified it in your first comment, and so did I in my reply. The cartoons are tangential to the present discussion and I am not really interested in repeating all I said in the ET debates on the topic. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
I brought up the cartoons, because the suspects in the failed train bombing plots in Germany mentioned them as their motivation.
That's why I think it is worth looking at the long-term consequences of the cartoon uproar.
Well, not known to you. This is something like Robbie Williams or Kylie Minoque being megastars in Europe, but virtually unknown in the US, and US writers concluding the UK has no internationally well-known pop musicians. Your line made me recall a scene on my Franz Ferdinand DVD, in a documentary of their concert world tour: an interview towards the end of the US leg of the tour with MTV in New York. Almost all questions were silly ones like "did you came here because a you'll be famous if you are famous in the US" [the already famous boys stopped for the second to find a polite answer], "so now you'll go to Buffalo then Chicago, and what comes after your world tour is over - recording a new LP?" [it was the middle of a world tour, not a US tour].
Also, regarding books, declarations of the lack of this or that based on ignorance and not speaking Arabic is something Angry Arab regularly fumes about, for example here.
Overall, I mostly agree with your above post. In particular that Europe is part to the problem, not just a sufferer of collateral damage. On the other hand, one can't talk about these problems without talking about the US, that would be the other extreme. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I have no clue how to make Arabs more proud and self respecting and feel less humiliated and have less of an inferiority complex etc.
Stop supporting political systems that inevitably leave them poor and less developed? Just a thought.
Let's stop driving our cars today.
Colman, don't get me wrong. I am not saying this to criticize you, but just try to think it through.
I look forward to Energize Europe.
You wrote: We should stop supporting the undemocratic regimes.
I responded that we should not drive our cars then. Then we would withdraw our support of these regimes.
What do you suggest? How do you want to stop supporting those regimes?
Stop development aid for Egypt and others? Sure. What else?
