Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the author of "Infidel." She was forced into hiding in
Nathan Gardels: One is tempted to say "here we go again," yet another episode of worldwide violence and protests against an insult to the Prophet Muhammad -- there was the Salman Rushdie fatwa, the Danish cartoon and your own case in
Is there anything different this time around, or are they all of a piece?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: I would say they are all of a piece in the sense that they all stem from the same thing: a political ideology embedded in a 1,400-year-old religion and culture that makes no room for any criticism of its foundational father and sacred texts. When it comes to the Koran and the prophet, Muslims are equally offended by any work they perceive as disrespectful of those two icons: from the current Koran project in
Gardels: One difference between previous episodes and this one, as you alluded to, is that it comes in the wake of the Arab Spring. Now the masses are free to speak their minds and have elected their own leaders such as the Muslim Brotherhood in
The Islamists are now the mainstream -- and they are as angry and insulted as what used to be seen in the West as the militant margins.
Hirsi Ali: What we are seeing in the wake of the protests in the Arab world is an aversion to tyrannical rule whether it is a secular dictator or a religious monarchy. Where the dictators fell we saw -- and I have always said this -- a strong vote for a system of government informed by political Islam. The mainstream Brotherhood never made a secret of their commitment to a political and moral framework based on Islamic law. So it should not surprise us in the least that the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood are insulted by unflattering depictions of their moral guide.
Gardels: The Muslim-majority country closest to the West is
Hirsi Ali: And here is what President Obama said when asked to qualify the initial statement made by the American Embassy in
"I do have to say that, more broadly, we believe in the First Amendment. It is one of the hallmarks of our Constitution that I am sworn to uphold, so we're always going to uphold the rights of individuals to speak their minds. On the other hand, this film is not representative of who we are, and our values, and I think it is important for us to communicate that. That's never an excuse for violence against Americans, which is why my No. 1 priority and my initial statement focused on making sure that not only are Americans safe, but that we go after anyone that would attack Americans."
So Prime Minister Erdogan is not ready to compromise on the issue of free speech, and President Obama swore to uphold the American Constitution, of which the First Amendment is a hallmark. To me this symbolizes the "Clash of Civilizations" that professor Samuel Huntington described so eloquently in 1993, less than five years after the end of an epic confrontation of ideas with the former
And this is the stark and unpleasant reality that faces both civilizations: There are certain values that cannot be compromised by those who hold them.
Prime Minister Erdogan has been tireless in leading initiatives on behalf of the Muslim nations of the
In reality, neither leader nor the people who elected each of them is prepared to give the other what he wants: President Obama -- or any other American president regardless of party -- will not compromise the First Amendment; Prime Minister Erdogan or any other Muslim leader (at least in the short run) will not sit back and accept blasphemy against Muslim icons.
Gardels: The democratization of the media in the West -- with social media like YouTube and Twitter -- means any marginal kook can post a video. Thanks to the Internet, today the reach of the media is planetary, including to the politically awakened Muslims no longer suppressed by autocrats. That is a combustible combination that likely means more conflict of this nature, not less.
Hirsi Ali: I agree. As I said, Western nations are based on the principle that the free exchange of ideas is constitutionally protected. In America Google, YouTube and the other
What Prime Minister Erdogan and President Morsi of
Gardels: What should the West do then?
Hirsi Ali: As the world's only remaining superpower, America is faced with the daunting task of preventing conflict as much as it can. Given its relative decline and the relative rise of powers that are hostile to the West, this task is even more daunting.
When it comes to relations with the Muslim world there is clearly a pious mainstream and a homicidal militant minority who share the view that some form of punishment is justified against those who insult their prophet or desecrate their holy book.
And here is the dilemma that America was grappling with since the storming of her embassy in
In relation to the Muslim world, the past three decades show three things:
First, that creating the impression that mutually exclusive moral systems can find compromise around non-negotiable values does not resolve the conflict but only makes it worse and postpones the real battle of ideas. The First Amendment in America will not be compromised, and the Muslim world will not accept that people who supposedly insult their icons will go unpunished. On this level, the only way out as I see it is a true battle of ideas whereby each side demonstrates to the other why its value system is superior. In other words, Westerners should quit the moral relativist posturing and get down to the hard work of defending their values.
Two, and this is a good sign, that the Muslim world is rapidly changing. The Iranian masses that brought the ayatollahs to power in 1979 were calling for change in 2009. As we all know, totalitarian systems have a short lifespan. The people in the
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, that alliances with dictators, mujahedeen and other tyrants are more costly in human life and resources than facing up to the confrontation of irreconcilable values and setting out to win. The last victory of the U.S. against a bad system of ideas was against the
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