Middle Eastern perception of the West

Funk and Said (2004: 14) argue the derivation of the conflictive relationship between Arab/Muslims and the West is mainly identity-based rather than associated to foreign policy in general. The authors emphasize identity as a source when articulating the dichotomous relationship between Arab/Muslims and Westerners with the “other.” They write:

The problem […] has nothing to do with what we are doing, and everything to do with who they are and what motivates them – for example, hate, greed, and antipathy to our values. They are different from us; we value reasonable, peaceful approaches to problems while they seek to impose their own culture by force. The conflict is about identity, not policies – about opposed values but not about concerns, interests, and needs that often overlap (Funk and Said, 2004: 14).

Funk and Said thus regard identity as the foundation of conflict between the West and Arab/Muslim communities, which challenge the hypotheses offered by Telhami (2009), Gage and others (2003), Mogahed (2006) and others that anti-Western/American perceptions are rooted in (U.S.) foreign policy, as emphasized in the previous subsection. The practical and theoretical implications of Funk and Said’s (2004: 14) assertion are that foreign policy alteration alone is insufficient for improving cross-cultural perceptions. Contrary, perceptions of the “other” should be the focal point to ensure cognitive reframing.

Testing this theory, available open-source literature qualifies how Arab/Muslims conceptualize the conflict relation with the West. Polling data provides support Funk and Said’s (2004) hypothesis that negative perceptions are identity-based. For instance, Esposito and Mogahed (2010: 35) asked respondents to identify the roots of cross-cultural conflict, and found that respondents from MENA countries ranked religion (40%), political (40%) and cultural (9%) differences respectively. Of these, religion and culture are identity-based (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 35). Fortunately, their research includes a sample of Iraq citizens, so it is possible to isolate their opinions. At the micro level, Iraqis perceived the roots of conflict between the Arab/Muslims and the West as 45% political, 36% religious and 10% culture (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 41), suggesting some variation between micro and

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macro level sentiment. Nonetheless, nearly half of MENA and Iraqi respondents indicate the roots of conflict are identity-based (religion and culture), as opposed to policy based.

Identifying the typology of roots is important since they qualitatively influence how current and future bilateral relations are perceived and how they might be altered (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 35-41). On the one hand, those respondents who view conflict as rooted in religion and/or culture are increasingly likely to predict conflict between Muslims and the West is unavoidable (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 36). In short, identity-based sources of conflict complicate the potential of implementing and achieving conflict resolution. On the other hand, those who view cross-cultural conflict as politically motivated tend to be more optimistic about the probability that future conflict can be avoided (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 35-41), as it is easier to alter policy than identity.

From these findings, it can be surmised that singular efforts to alter policy has the potential of mollifying respondents whom believe conflict is politically rooted (Gage and others, 2003: 2-3). Nevertheless, policy change will be less effective for altering opinions of those who perceive the conflict is rooted in cultural or religious differences (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 35-41). In this latter instance, conflict runs deeper and requires cognitive alterations. Hence, the emphasis on religion and culture as being sources of conflict indicates that conflict across the examined cultures is more resistant to conflict resolution or compromise (Svensson, 2013: 413-414). Conflict resilience is couched on the premise that alteration of deeply rooted and/or identity-based issues requires changing the perceptions of both parties to effect cognitive transformation.

Despite the qualified root causes of conflict across cultures, researchers optimistically suggest that conflict resolution is still possible in this instance. Esposito and Mogahed (2010: 21), for example, found that 61% of MENA respondents believe that the quality of Muslim- West relations is pertinent to them. Equally positive, half of them (55%) feel that conflict between Arab/Muslim and Western culture can be avoided (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 35). Respondents also overwhelmingly agree that Muslims respect the West (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 23), and sixty-one percent perceive the international Muslim community is committed to improving relations with the West (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 21). While the qualified opinions provide reasons for optimism among the “in-group”, Muslim respondents are less optimistic when projecting “out-group” opinion of Muslims or their interest in altering cross-cultural relationships (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 52).

Although a majority of MENA respondents believe conflict between Muslims and the West is avoidable, “most did not believe conflict is being avoided currently” (Esposito and

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Mogahed, 2010: 19). Hence, the quote emphasizes that responsibility for not avoiding conflict is transferred to the West. For instance, 65% of MENA respondents claim the West does not respect Muslims (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 52). Disrespect is problematic for building constructive relationships as it produces mistrust and grievances. In a similar vein, half of Arab/Muslim respondents believe that Muslims residing in the West are not “treated as equal citizens” and are instead “excluded from social, political and civic life” (Gallup, 2011: 6). The perceived grievances outlined in the quote are associated with inequality and exclusion; discriminatory practices which Muslim respondents desire the West to alter (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 24-55).

In closing, the survey goes on to query those changes Arab/Muslim respondents deem necessary. To bridge cross-cultural differences, 63% of MENA citizens believe that increased social interaction would improve the quality of Muslim-West relations (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 24). Interaction is naturally expected to impart increased understanding and appreciation. Additional, a majority expresses a desire for inhabitants in the West to: respect Islam and its symbols; to treat Muslims fairly; and properly depict Muslims in film and media (Esposito and Mogahed, 2010: 55; Gallup, 2011: 7). Once again, these are identity-based issues that cause Muslims to feel victimized by the West due to stereotypes and their treatment. However, completing our discursive circle, Mogahed (2006: 3) also found that Muslims want the West to “stop interfering in the internal affairs of predominantly Muslim states.” This discovery suggests that policy decisions, as well as identity-based issues, equally influence how Arab/Muslim and Western/U.S. conflict relations are formed and conceptualized. Conclusively, while foreign policy alterations are necessary, they need to be administered in conjunction with an alteration in cross-cultural perceptions and behavior to change the quality of bilateral relations across these cultures.