Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue
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Annex 1: Public Opinion on <strong>the</strong> State of Muslim-<strong>West</strong> Dialogue
In contrast, Israelis give Muslims more credit:
64% of Israeli respondents believe <strong>the</strong> Muslim
world is committed to improving relations.
Among Muslim majority nations surveyed, Saudi
Arabia (68%) <strong>and</strong> Egypt (64%) are most likely
to believe <strong>the</strong> Muslim world is committed to
improving relations with <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>. The only
Muslim majority country in which most people
do not believe <strong>the</strong> Muslim world is committed
to improving relations with <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> is Turkey,
where only 26% agree while fully half (50%)
say this is not <strong>the</strong> case. This is particularly
noteworthy given that 64% of Turks say that
<strong>the</strong> quality of interaction between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern
<strong>and</strong> Muslim worlds is important to <strong>the</strong>m. This
may mean that many Turks regard Turkey as
outside <strong>the</strong> so-called “Muslim world”. When in
2005, Turkish residents were asked what <strong>the</strong>y
admired least about <strong>the</strong> “Muslim world” some
gave responses like “women can’t drive,”
signalling that <strong>the</strong>y were specifically talking
about Saudi Arabia <strong>and</strong> not <strong>the</strong>ir own society 16 .
• Do you think <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern world is committed
to improving relations between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern
<strong>and</strong> Muslim worlds?
Views of <strong>West</strong>ern commitment to improving
relations form ano<strong>the</strong>r perceptual gap between
both sets of countries. In all non-Muslim
countries – except Spain, Russia <strong>and</strong> Brazil –
more people believe <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> is committed to
better relations than believe it is not committed.
In contrast, majorities in every Middle Eastern
country studied disagree, while respondents in
majority-Muslim Asian countries are about
evenly split. Majorities in Israel (58%), <strong>the</strong> United
States (56%), Belgium (58%), Denmark (53%),
<strong>and</strong> Italy (54%) think that <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> is committed
to improving relations between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>ern <strong>and</strong>
Muslim worlds. However, significant minorities
in most non-Muslim majority nations – including
16 Gallup World Poll, 2005.
17 Gallup Poll, April 2003, December 2006
<strong>the</strong> United States (40%), Spain (38%) <strong>and</strong>
Denmark (39%) – feel this is not <strong>the</strong> case.
It is important to highlight how different events
shaping public dialogue in each of <strong>the</strong>se nations
shape respondents’ answers to this question.
For instance, in US public discourse <strong>the</strong> war in
Iraq has been a top agenda item for years.
When <strong>the</strong> Gallup Organization asked Americans
in April 2003, “All-in-all, do you think it was
worth going to war in Iraq?” 73% said it was
worth it. But when asked <strong>the</strong> same question
in December of 2006 only 37% said it was a
good idea, while 62% disagreed 17 .Thisisan
example of how, within each <strong>West</strong>ern nation,
public opinion on engagement with <strong>the</strong> Muslim
world is both diverse <strong>and</strong> fluid.
In Spain, respondents might be assessing <strong>the</strong>
US role as a de facto representative of <strong>the</strong>
<strong>West</strong> in engagement with <strong>the</strong> Muslim world,
<strong>and</strong> thus assessing US commitment to
improving relations, ra<strong>the</strong>r than commitment
throughout <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> per se. At <strong>the</strong> very least,
<strong>the</strong> United States is clearly understood to be
<strong>the</strong> most significant <strong>West</strong>ern player in both <strong>the</strong>
Israeli-Palestinian conflict <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> war in Iraq –
<strong>the</strong> two issues that occupy <strong>the</strong> most attention
in interactions between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Muslim world. Following <strong>the</strong> Madrid train
bombings, <strong>the</strong>re was a backlash in Spain
against <strong>the</strong> government of Jose Maria Aznar,
as political rival Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
swept into power by persuading <strong>the</strong> public to
draw a connection between Spanish support
for <strong>the</strong> Bush administration on Iraq <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
terrorist bombings in <strong>the</strong>ir homel<strong>and</strong>.
It is likely that Danish responses reflect <strong>the</strong>
debate sparked by <strong>the</strong> publication of <strong>the</strong>
cartoons perceived as defamatory to Muslims.
In 2006, an opinion poll conducted throughout
Europe found that about half of Danish