Strangers in the Arab-Muslim World

“Stranger in the Arab- Muslim World” was written by Fouad Ajami in 2001. His piece was written for The Wilson Quarterly. Ajami explains the spread of American pop culture throughout the Middle East, but also tells of the disdain and anger that the Middle Eastern populations have towards America. There is a radical spread of anti-Americanism throughout the Middle East and Ajami provides examples and reasons to why these people are so unhappy with America.
It is apparent that there is a big struggle of America’s presence in the Middle East. People inhabiting the area generally don’t accept America’s culture, claiming that the United States are power hungry, infidels. There is major confrontation between the power’s of the Middle East and the general public. The public feel strongly against their governments, however, they cannot act out on their angers. The local governments do not allow public speaking against their power; but, on the other hand, they do allow space and freedom for these people to speak out against the United States. This is one of the contributing factors to the spread of hate towards America. Kids will understand only that they should hate America. They are not old enough to understand why; only that it has been drilled into their heads that America is the enemy. By the time they are old enough to make decisions for their own; they have gotten this idea so instilled in their brains that they continue the spread of hate towards America.
The situation in the Middle East is an extremely sensitive subject. The United States needs to approach it with extreme caution. America is walking on a tight rope that is descending into a pit of fire. There are many different approaches the U.S. can take to help make amends with these Arab-Muslim peoples. What to do is the tough question. Somehow America needs to prove to the people that they are changing their own perspective on the Middle East. That they do not want to torment and anger the Arab world, but through cooperative work, both cultures can push for peace and amending relations. There are no plans of action that are guaranteed to help relations; but to reiterate, something needs to be done, and through cooperative and positive communications, such a peace is an achievable goal.