Military

DATE=04/30/02

TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

TITLE=RALPH PETERS/M.E. PEACE

NUMBER=3-159

BYLINE=TOM CROSBY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

/// Editors: This interview is available in Dalet under SOD/English News Now Interviews in the folder for today or yesterday ///

HOST: As the United States seeks to bring a peaceful solution to the Middle East crisis...there has been a suggestion the United States may be focussing too much on Islam in the Middle East while overlooking opportunities provided by Islamic societies elsewhere in the world. That view was offered Monday by Ralph Peters in an article written for the Wall Street Journal. He is a retired military officer and author of the forthcoming book "Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World." He spoke with VOA News Now's Tom Crosby:

MR. PETERS: I think our overemphasis on the Near East, of course driven by the oil issue, has been terribly counterproductive for us. Islam in the Middle East is, sadly, locked in concrete; it's just cemented in. Where Islam is fascinating, and hopeful and promising, are on that religion's frontiers, places such as Indonesia, certainly Malaysia, even in Turkey, an old frontier but, nonetheless, still a frontier, and from the Caucasus to the Balkans, to Nigeria. That's where there is a battle being waged for Islam's soul, between those who want a progressive, humane, tolerant, forward-looking religion, and those forces funded by Middle Eastern petro-dollars around the world, who want to recreate Saudi Arabia's medieval vision of Islam elsewhere. And it really is an important battle for the entire world, because the soul of one of the world's great religions is indeed at stake.

MR. CROSBY: What, though, people will ask, is in it for the United States if it focuses its attention on places like Indonesia, as you suggest, or parts of Africa?

MR. PETERS: To take the case of Indonesia, the United States, and the West in general, chronically underestimate the importance of Indonesia. Indonesia, despite its many problems, is moving forward. It's not only a Muslim country in the sense that it has a Muslim majority~--~about 89 percent of its 210-plus million citizens are Muslims -- however, the great majority of those Muslims would not please Saudi Arabia. They are very tolerant. It's Sufi based. It is a form or forms of Islam that have evolved in response to local conditions, a synthesis.

It's very humane, very open, very decent. And even in Indonesia, the minority, who subscribe to rigorous, backward-looking, restrictive, and oppressive Middle Eastern Islam, are fighting a desperate struggle. When we hear about religious violence in Indonesia, it is not sparked or carried out by the majority of Indonesia's Muslims, by any means, but by a minority of a minority who are trying to recreate these medieval, Middle Eastern-style regimes around the world.

Now, Indonesia is important because it is the most populous Muslim country, in the sense of population, because it is a country that is a functioning democracy, for all its problems. It's looking forward, not back, and we have to help it. Plus, it sits astride the most critical straits, for what has been termed a Pacific century. Most of the world's trade still travels by sea, and the Straits of Malacca, between Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as other straits, are vital to world security.

And I think, perhaps most importantly, the Islamic world desperately needs a success story, a major country that can compete, that moves forward. And Malaysia certainly has many positive qualities but, nonetheless, the more, the better for everybody. An Islam that can be tolerant and open and can accept self-criticism is much more promising for the entire world than a backward, oppressive, often violent, form that we see spawning terrorism from the Middle East.

MR. CROSBY: But some are going to read what you say as turning our backs on Islam in the Middle East and perhaps, in effect, turning our backs on Israel.

MR. PETERS: Well, I would never recommend turning our backs on Israel. To me, the founding of Israel was one of the few great moral acts of the 20th century. I by no means approve of everything the Israelis do, but they are fighting for their lives and they deserve, ultimately, our support when their backs are against the wall. Neither are we ever going to fully turn away from the Middle East, of course, because in the real world you don't just walk away. Rather, I'm arguing for a shifting of emphasis, away from counterproductive regimes. I would rather see us working on Islam's frontiers, with, through and for democratic governments that want to take their people forward.

HOST: Former military officer Ralph Peters, the author of the soon-to-be-published book "Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World." He spoke to VOA News Now's Tom Crosby.

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