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THE QUESTION
Obama in the Muslim World
What's your reaction to President Obama's June 4 address to the Muslim world?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on May 29, 2009 1:51 PM
FROM THE PANEL
Obama Reversing Christian Right's Damage to Islam
Obama offset the suspicion and belief that American foreign policy was influenced by the beliefs and designs of the Christian Right, intent upon spreading its version of God's message and rule.
Posted by John Esposito, on June 8, 2009 1:28 PM
Obama's Brilliant Beginning
President Obama's speech in Cairo was brilliant. It took a necessary leap forward in rhetoric, demonstrating that when Obama said he wants a relationship based on mutual respect, he meant what he was saying. Let's hope that in the upcoming months and years, his words are backed by concrete action.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on June 8, 2009 10:40 AM
Obama's Speech Made Us Safer
This speech makes us all safer, and does a better job of it than a thousand drone attacks or military forays.
Posted by Starhawk, on June 6, 2009 3:19 PM
Obama in Cairo: Can Common Ground Become Holy Land?
Conversation does not ascend to common ground until each participant feels "I am understood." No previous President of the United States was as well prepared as is Obama to say to the Muslim world, "I understand you."
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on June 6, 2009 1:16 AM
A Paradigm to Jump-Start U.S. - Muslim Relations
Obama's Cairo address, in what may prove to be an historic event, was a major step forward in changing the course of American-Muslim relations.
Posted by John Esposito, on June 5, 2009 4:40 PM
Obama's Challenge to the Muslim World
The historic significance of President Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo cannot be overstated.
Posted by Feisal Abdul Rauf, on June 5, 2009 11:32 AM
A President Who Listens, Learns and Leads
Obama's speech was clearly directed toward Muslim, but this not a speech about religion or policy. It was a speech about understanding and respect.
Posted by Sally Quinn, on June 5, 2009 8:31 AM
The President's Speech: Happiness and Disappointment
I applaud President Obama for his clear and unambiguous proclamation of freedom of religion. I was extremely disappointed President Obama did not take this opportunity in Cairo to applaud the United States military and its valiant and sacrificial efforts to liberate Muslims in Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq from severe persecution and tyranny.
Posted by Richard Land, on June 4, 2009 5:06 PM
Obama's Call to the Faithful
In stark contrast to George Bush's catch phrase, "clash of civilizations," Obama made every effort to weave common threads between the West and the Islamic world.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on June 4, 2009 4:48 PM
Grading Obama's Speech: A For Diplomacy, C- For Religious Dishonesty
Obama exaggerated the virtues of all religions--not only Islam--and simply ignored the historical fact that religious liberty for all is a secular principle born of the Enlightenment.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on June 4, 2009 3:46 PM
Obama's Peacemaking
Obama's speech at Cairo University was nothing short of courageous, ambitious and honest. Surely, someone in the Muslim world was touched as never before.
Posted by Susan K. Smith, on June 4, 2009 12:45 PM
Obama's Speech Brilliant and Troubling
The President's remarks were filled with partial truths which often idealized the history of Islam and consistently avoided many of the real challenges which the world faces today. But it put being productive ahead of what some of us call being right, and that is the path to peace and reconciliation every time.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on June 4, 2009 10:44 AM
Repairing 8 Years of Flawed U.S. Policy
Obama must continue to press the cause of human rights in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, an issue that has often raised questions about U.S. Foreign Policy turning a blind eye to the issues of human rights violations in order to advance America's interests in the region.
Posted by John Bryson Chane, on June 3, 2009 10:37 AM
Obama's Opportunity in Cairo
As an Egyptian by parentage, a U.S. citizen by choice, a Muslim by faith and an imam at the mosque that is but 12 blocks from Ground Zero in New York City, I am pleased that my president, Barack Hussein Obama, is addressing the Muslim world Thursday from my hometown of Cairo.
Posted by Feisal Abdul Rauf, on June 2, 2009 5:07 PM
Address Palestine-Israel Directly
Obama's combination of principle and pragmatism will be tested as he seeks to balance relations with old allies and populist expectations in the Muslim world. If Obama does not address Palestine-Israel directly and concretely, the response will be seen "as same old, same old."
Posted by John Esposito, on June 2, 2009 12:04 PM
