Synopses & Reviews
When I suggest that radical Muslims are the problem and that moderate Muslims are the solution, the nearly inevitable retort from most people is: 'What moderate Muslims?'... Moderate Muslims do exist. But, of course, they constitute a very small movement when compared to the Islamist onslaught. This means that the American government and other powerful institutions should give priority to locating, meeting with, funding, forwarding, empowering, and celebrating those brave Muslims who, at personal risk, stand up and confront the totalitarians. 'Building Moderate Muslim Networks' methodically takes up and thinks through this concept. [The authors] grapple intelligently with the innovative issue of helping moderate Muslims to grow and prosper... [The book] marks a major step toward the systematic reconfiguration of Washington's policy for combating Islamism. The study's meaty contents, clear analysis, and bold recommendations usefully move the debate forward, offering precisely the in-depth strategizing that Westerners urgently need.
Daniel Pipes
Building Moderate Muslim Networks' is both refreshing and thought provoking in its examination of the tough work needed to achieve democratic transformation in the Muslim world. It avoids the twin pitfalls of demonizing Muslim nations and denying the social and political differences between those nations and ours. The book's authors provide an overview of the 'war of ideas' going on in the Muslim world, criticize the shortsighted U.S. approach to this 'war', and call for a clear long-term policy... The book is worth reading for its insights on countering extremism in the Muslim world and the questions it inspires about our policy priorities.
Military Review, November-December 2007...In [this] landmark report, four RAND scholars draw a nuanced yet common-sense distinction between radical and moderate Muslims, and make sweeping policy prescriptions that, if implemented, will fundamentally alter the way Western governments tackle what is arguably the most pressing threat of our times... All in all, this important contribution to the policy debate ought to get the serious attention it deserves.
Far Eastern Economic Review, May 2007
Synopsis
Radical Islamists spread their message using extensive networks spanning the Muslim world, but moderates have not created similar networks. The authors derive lessons from U.S. and allied Cold War experience fostering democratic networks, determine their applicability to current conditions in the Muslim world, evaluate U.S. programs of engagement with the Muslim world, and develop a "road map" to foster the construction of moderate Muslim networks.