Obama Sounds A New Note In The Mideast

President Obama spoke in Cairo today on the need to improve U.S.-Muslim relations, in a much-anticipated speech that touched upon a gamut of issues, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Islamic extremism, nuclear proliferation, and most of all, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

Obama’s most resonant statements, however, were in regard to new beginnings between the U.S. and the Islamic world, a relationship “based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.” He said, “[America and Islam] are not exclusive… they overlap, and share common principles – principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

In many ways, this was a decidedly symbolic speech, not about laying out the administration’s approach to foreign policy, as the New York Times points out. Obama spoke of a deepening divide between Americans and Muslims, plagued by mistrust and stereotypes. “I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," the president said. "But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.”

President Obama, seen here in Cairo, attempted to directly engage the different stakeholders in the Mideast, saying it is "in Israel’s interest, Palestine’s interest, America’s interest and the world’s interest."

Indeed, the knowledge deficit here among the American public is significant – and it hasn’t improved much since 9/11. It’s critical to view survey results on this topic with caution because of the consistently sizeable share of “don’t know” responses. Brand new Gallup numbers indicate that just ten percent of Americans say they know “a great deal” about the opinions and beliefs of people who live in Muslim countries, an increase of just five percentage points since the same question was asked in March 2002. And nearly half (47 percent) say they know either “not much” or “not at all,” a seven point decrease since 2002.

Similarly, a Newsweek poll in July 2007 found one-third (32 percent) who said that they “don't know” whether the Koran condones violence or not. And 19 percent said they “don't know” whether Muslim culture glorifies suicide or not. The Pew Research Center has done a great deal of research on this topic over the years, and when they've asked whether respondents have favorable or unfavorable opinions of Muslims, “don’t know” responses have been consistently in the 20 percent range.

There is some nuance to be found in public attitudes about Muslims and U.S.-Muslim relations, particularly in the context of President Obama's Cairo speech. Last year, Public Agenda's Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index found 73 percent who said only a small minority of Muslims support terrorism.

Yet eight in ten Americans were worried about the "rise of Muslim extremism in the world" (38 percent worry "a lot”), and seven in ten (73 percent) worried “a lot” or “somewhat” about growing hatred of the United States in the Islamic world (one-third worry "a lot"). And while six in ten believed improved dialogue with the Muslim world can reduce hatred of the United States, most Americans gave the government poor grades on that front. Three-quarters said establishing good relations with moderate Muslims is something the government can do something about.

Throughout our series of Foreign Policy Index reports, we found both a consistent worry by the public about U.S. relations with the Muslim world, and, a greater inclination towards diplomacy in our nation's approach to foreign policy. Two-thirds (64 percent) said they think the rest of the world views the United States “somewhat” or “very negatively,” and 87 percent said it’s important to our national security that the rest of the world sees the United States positively.