May 28, 2010

Report on National Security Exemplifies Admin.'s Message of Change

Yesterday, President Obama released the first report of his term addressing America's national security strategy, which is rooted in the central importance of pursuing comprehensive engagement and relying on diplomacy rather than war.  The strategy addresses challenges ranging from violent extremism to climate change.  It clearly seeks to set a new direction by looking at national security policy more comprehensively than the previous administration.  This change has been evident from day one in the renewed approach taken towards challenges confronting our nation, and in the language used by the administration to describe the threats we face.

Click here to download the National Security Strategy Report

The new national security strategy will rely primarily on diplomacy, and view war as a last resort. As stated in the report, Our long-term security will not come from our ability to instill fear in other peoples, but through our capacity to speak to their hopes."

The new strategy outlines the fundamental connection between our national security, our national competitiveness, resilience, and moral example. This represents a fundamental shift from the previous administration's go it alone approach to a narrow understanding of national security. It seeks to avoid further overreach of American power; opting instead for leadership through example (rather than imposing ideas on others) and understanding that challenges to national security go beyond conventional military power.

Ranging from violent extremism, to nuclear proliferation, to climate change, the report argues that these transnational security challenges require partnered solutions at multiple levels. Discussions and the answers that will come from them will require many different actors and sectors state and non-state, public, private, and civil society. No one group, or nation, (including the United States) has all the answers and capabilities to effectively address these complex issues alone.

Such a shift is also reflected in how the Administration seeks to address Muslim communities at home and abroad. U.S.-Muslim relations are no longer going be securitized that is, dominated by discussions of military conflict and terrorism. Partnerships will be sought between Muslim-majority states, secular and faith-based civil society actors and private businesses to enhance economic, political and public health development.

This is not to say that security considerations will no longer be an important factor within U.S.-Muslim relations. Such a reality will remain. Yet even on this issue, the tone of the discussion is significantly shifting. For example, the terminology used to address enemies is becoming more nuanced. A day before the National Security Strategy was released, the administration's Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security, John Brennan, gave a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in which he stated:

Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists, because jihad is a holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify oneself or one's community.  And there is nothing holy or legitimate or Islamic about murdering innocent men, women, and children. Indeed, characterizing our adversaries this way would be counterproductive. It would play into the false perception that they are religious leaders defending a holy cause when in fact, they are nothing more than murderers, including the murder of thousands upon thousands of Muslims.

As Muslims and Americans, MPAC welcomes the new approach laid out in the National Security Strategy. It is through the new paradigm of partnered solutions that we will continue to engage all actors, including government officials and institutions to work on issues affecting the public interest. Long-term success for our nation requires the input of all key communities, including Muslim Americans.