Daily Alert Archives

Winning the Propaganda War

(Jerusalem Post) Daniel Pipes - The now-suspended, Arab-language, taxpayer-funded Hi International magazine and other such U.S. government efforts as Radio Sawa and Al-Hurra Television are misconceived. Like generals fighting the last war, diplomats recall the successes of Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe in providing precious information to Soviet bloc peoples and helping to bring about the demise of the Soviet Union. But Muslims generally and Islamists specifically do not lack for reliable information; much less do they (as did Soviet-bloc populations) prefer Western sources of information to their own. Even Muslims living in Western countries (including Israel) who are fluent in one or more Western languages generally get their news from Muslim sources. Unlike the Soviet bloc, the Muslim world lacks not access to reliable information but interest in it. Rather than try to purvey information to Muslims, the U.S. should instead assert the case for liberal, secular, and humane values. More than facts, the Muslim world needs to understand the basics of what makes the West thrive - and thereby be inspired to emulate it.
2005-12-28 00:00:00
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