For some, the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr was uncomfortably close to the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks this year. The three-day holiday, which began Sept. 10, marked the end of Ramadan for practicing Muslims and is feted through large feasts, gift exchanges, and social gatherings, stood in stark contrast to the melancholic tenor around Sept. 11 for non-Muslim Americans. While festivity and remembrance sat side by side amid enduring controversies this year, the emerging and lingering question is why the U.S.-Muslim relationship has continued to deteriorate nearly a decade after 9/11.

Photo by Eneas

As the Middle East and the global Muslim community have grown to figure prominently in headline news since 9/11, the percentage of Americans who view Islam and Muslim populations with hostility, or admit they know nothing about the people or the faith have grown in equal measure. The American tabula rasa has bred stateside extremism, manifested most recently in the form of Quran-burning propositions and steadfast opposition to the construction of a mosque, or more accurately a community center, two blocks away from ground zero.

Current tensions between Muslims and the West seem to stem from a deficit in cross-cultural understanding. Beyond headline news, the Western media has failed to produce portraits of Islam and Muslims that go beyond political affairs to fall outside the narrow framework of extremist brands of Islam. As the second largest religion in the world, it behooves the American public to reach out and understand what is also becoming arguably the fastest-growing religion in the world. So far, attempts to connect and understand Islam and practicing Muslims have proven futile, much to the detriment of US national security.

At the peak of the Cold War the United States adopted a strategy that took American musicians, artists, actors and writers around the globe to promote principles of democracy on which this country was founded, key among them the freedom of expression. The aim was not to deter or dissuade members of Trotsky-esque parties from participation, but to affect the milieu in which such groups were thriving. The cross-cultural exchange brought new ideas to this citizenry, which cultivated a degree of dissent, thereby diminishing the appeal of extremist groups and ideas.

During the Cold War tensions between two world powers that had long been at loggerheads with each other were reduced in part by artists and the use of soft power, demonstrating that diplomacy cannot operate solely at government levels. Cold policy indicated that a parallel form of diplomacy that engages civic societies across cultural divides must function in conjunction with political paradigms of diplomacy for relations improve.

Although the political landscape of the Cold War bears modest resemblance to the current balance of power structure, the potential and necessity for cross-cultural exchange as a tool to reach mutual understanding and curb extremist-driven threats or attacks is comparable. Cultural diplomacy can highlight hopes, aspirations and freedoms common between countries and religions to make the point that seemingly disparate worlds can in fact meet at an intersection where cultural engagement can take place without Westernization—a fear that has consistently catapulted clerics to power.

It is indisputable that culture informs all manners of political development and if, in fact, the US seeks to develop stronger relations with the Middle East and the global Muslim community, efforts aimed at establishing cross-cultural understanding must be in place. Investing in arts and culture programs including traveling museum exhibitions, community film screenings, concert events, and student exchange programs with the Middle East can leave a tremendous impact on American relations with the global Muslim community. Exploring a group through its past and modern forms of artistic expression can give audiences a deeper understanding of the culture and history Muslims seek to preserve. It is culture that lends itself to historical context, which allows one to better understand where ostensibly outlandish ideologies, blasphemous political remarks and unjustified nuclear ambitions come from.

Reach reporter Arezou Rezvani here.

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