The United States and the Middle East with Fouad Ajami

27 Apr 2010

Speakers: Peter M Robinson, Fouad Ajami

Fouad Ajami joins Peter Robinson of Uncommon Knowledge to help deconstruct past and current US foreign policy. Ajami attempts to lay out the ideological and strategic challenges the United States faces in the Islamic world.

A strong former advocate of the George W Bush administration, Ajami challenges conventional wisdom, asserting - in true Ajami style - that the Iraq war is won, the Afghan campaign can’t be won, and Obama’s approach to Iran is all wrong. He concludes by rejecting Mark Steyn’s assertion that “there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam,” declaring that “the battle for Islam is not yet lost.” Ajami discusses the Bush legacy before musing on Afghanistan's troubles, the implications of Iranian involvement, and the necessary diplomatic role the US needs to play relative to the threat played by radical Islam.