Religion and Responsible American Engagement of the Middle East

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Notes

1. I first heard Espen Barth Eide use this term, “mega-crisis,” at the Global Agenda Councils meeting of the World Economic Forum (where he is a managing director) in Abu Dhabi in October 2015 (Eide 2015). Espen Barth Eide is a Norwegian political scientist who previously served as Norway’s Minister of Defense, and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

2. I certainly understand the critique of the George W. Bush administration in Iraq. Indeed, I was among the first to offer that critique (e.g., see Seiple 2003a, 2003b). Nevertheless, when an administration has been in power seven years, it is also true that it deserves its own critique.

3. This opinion confirmed by my own discussions with people who served in Baghdad, 2011–2014.

4. Things are changing, however, as Saudi Arabia seeks to build a Sunni Alliance against Shia Iran. For example, after designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in March 2014, Saudi Arabia began engaging Brotherhood leaders of all stripes by July 2015. See Al-Arian (2015).

5. “Near” & “far” enemies are terms that Usama bin Laden used to frame his holy war after the Saudi government invited the U.S. to stay in Saudi Arabia at the end of the first Gulf War.

6. Please find the George C. Marshall Center vision and mission at: http://www.marshallcenter.org/mcpublicweb/en/nav-main-wwd-mission-vision-en.html.

7. For example, there is room to build on the recent Marrakesh Declaration—which calls for mutual respect between majority Muslims and minority faiths, and equal citizenship for all, based on the Charter of Medina—as faith communities discern, and make recommendations regarding, how good governance can create a context where the best of faith defeats the worst of religion. This declaration, January 27, 2016, on the 1400th anniversary of the Charter of Medina, asserted that this Charter is consistent with and calls for the protection of all religious minorities, including Christians, in Muslim majority lands, as equal citizens under the rule of law. Also see Abdul Rauf (2015) and Aroua (2013).

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Chris Seiple

Chris Seiple is President Emeritus and Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE), and serves as Administrator of The Cradle Fund, IGE’s program to help rescue, restore, and return Middle Eastern Christians and other religious and ethnic groups to a home where they can live and practice their faith free from fear. Seiple is a member of the Religion, Identity and Countering Violent Extremism working group at The Atlantic Council.