On 28 July 2004, Dr Anatol Lieven and Dr Daniel Pipes were the guest speakers to discuss this core topic in the future of foreign relations. US President George W. Bush claims that it is not what America does but what it is that has made the United States a target for Islamic extremism and a focus for rising frustration and anger in much of the Muslim world. That is, it is America’s freedom, success and prosperity that many Muslims are reacting against, not American policy in the Middle East and elsewhere. To what extent is this true, and what can the United States do about it? Would a change, say, in US policy towards Israel and/or greater US engagement in finding a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict help matters, or is a ‘clash of civilisations’ between the West and Islam inevitable no matter what America does?
Dr Anatol Lieven is a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he writes on a range of security and international affairs issues.
Dr Daniel Pipes is Director of the Middle East Forum, based in Philadelphia, a member of the presidentially-appointed US Institute for Peace, and a prize-winning columnist for The New York Post and The Jerusalem Post.
Mr Owen Harries is a Senior Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies and a Visiting Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.