On Wednesday, September 24th, 2008, the Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement released its report, “Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World.”  Changing Course represents the consensus of an exceptionally diverse, senior, bipartisan and inter-faith group of 34 American leaders who have worked together to build consensus on a comprehensive approach to improving U.S.-Muslim relations. Moving beyond current deadlocked debates, the Leadership Group has crafted a multi-faceted strategy to enhance U.S. and international security.  Their work was supported by Search for Common Ground and CBI, two organizations that specialize in building consensus on controversial public issues. Robert Fersh of SFCG  has been Co-Director of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project.

Since its release in September 2008, Changing Course has generated widespread interest.   President Obama echoed the Report when he called for a “new way forward with the Muslim world, based on mutual interest and mutual respect” in his inaugural address, and subsequent interview on al-Arabiya news channel.  His initial actions to appoint high level envoys to promote diplomacy, to begin engagement with Iran, and to order the closing of the Guantanomo Bay facility and reaffirm U.S. opposition to torture are all consistent with the Report. The Report itself has been covered widely in both domestic and international media, and Leadership Group members and project staff have presented the report’s recommendations in high-profile forums in Washington, D.C. and around the country, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Middle East Institute, Harvard University, and the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum.  On February 26, 2009, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright highlighted the Leadership Group’s comprehensive and “very action oriented” recommendations in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing entitled “Engaging Muslim Communities Around the World.”  For a complete list of latest news and media coverage, and more information on the project, visit www.USMuslimEngagement.org.

What American leaders are saying about Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World:

• Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State; Principal, The Albright Group LLC
  "Few challenges matter more than reducing distrust and misunderstanding between the United States and people living in Muslim majority states. This timely report is a groundbreaking, stereotype-shattering and thought-provoking contribution to that essential cause."

• Vin Weber, Managing Partner, Clark and Weinstock; Vice Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Representative
  “I am very pleased to be associated with the Leadership Group of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project and its report. The report provides clearheaded ideas and analysis that the American public and bipartisan leaders can get behind in working to improve US-Muslim relations. The process by which this group reached consensus is a good model for dialogue for the tough issues the country faces.”

• Leon E. Panetta, former White House Chief of Staff and U.S. Representative; Member, Iraq Study Group
  “This report gives the next administration specific action items to immediately improve U.S. relations with the Muslim world and greatly increase U.S. and global security. It is a strong complement to the report of the Iraq Study Group.”

• General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (ret.)
  "This is an exceptional and important report that is a must read for all those Americans involved in policy development, operational planning, and understanding of this critical part of our global society."

• Richard Land, President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention; Member, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
  "This initiative is a serious, comprehensive, bi-partisan effort that seeks to address a critical and dangerous problem: The world Muslim community misunderstands Americans and Americans misunderstand them. This initiative lays out a detailed and comprehensive plan to vastly decrease that misunderstanding through a multi-faceted approach that will build constructive bridges of mutual understanding between Americans and the Muslim world."

• Ingrid Mattson, President, The Islamic Society of North America; Professor of Islamic Studies, Director of Islamic Chaplaincy, and Director, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary
  "It is a sign of great hope that the Leadership Group, despite having substantial differences over policies and politics, was able to come together to develop this report. This was made possible by a shared belief that the vital interests of the American people need not, and must not, conflict with core American values affirming the dignity of all people and their right to freedom and self-determination. This is a message that the mainstream majority in the Muslim world will surely welcome, and it will help them in their desire to improve relations between their people and the United States."

Read more leadership endorsements of the Changing Course Report [pdf]

Media Coverage

Download the Report of the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project Leadership Group [pdf]

Read endorsements of the report [pdf]

View Congressional statements on the report: Committee on Foreign Affairs [pdf] | Sen. Richard Lugar [pdf]

View media coverage of the report [pdf]

Link TV Documentary:A short video about the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project and the Report of the Leadership Group

Report Launch Event: National Press Club, Washington, DC, September 24, 2008

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with Rob Fersh, Executive Director of SFCG-USA

 

Rob Fersh, SFCG – USA, at April 6th briefing for Ambassadors from Muslim countries, with speakers Madeleine Albright and Vin Weber

 

L to R: Rob Fersh; David Fairman; Mrs. Mekouar; Madeleine Albright; Ambassador Mekouar from Morocco; Dr. Sayyid Syeed; former Congressman Vin Weber; Paula Gutlove, at April 6th briefing for Ambassadors from Muslim countries.

Overview
The United States urgently needs to develop a new approach to address tensions with Muslim countries and communities. Conflict, misunderstanding and distrust plague relations between the U.S. and Muslims around the world. The national intelligence community, many other experts and more than 70 percent of the U.S. public believe that the risk of future terrorist acts is high, and that our current strategy is not reducing widespread Muslim hostility toward the U.S. In response, the U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project has produced a new strategy that better meets the long-term national security interests of the U.S., by addressing the sources of tension between the U.S. and Muslims in key countries and regions. The project’s goals are to:

• create a coherent, broad-based and bipartisan strategy and set of recommendations to improve relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world; and

• communicate and advocate this strategy in ways that shift U.S. public opinion and contribute to changes in U.S. policies, and public and private action.

An eminent Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement has been working since January 2007 to reach consensus on comprehensive recommendations. In September 2008, the project  issued a report and launched an intensive education campaign to influence the views and actions of the Obama Administration, Congress, opinion leaders, think tanks, interest groups  and the public at large.

Who Is Involved?

The Leadership Group.
The Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement drives the project. It includes a former Secretary of State, a former Deputy Secretary of State, former members of Congress, a former U.S. envoy on the Middle East peace process, and leaders and experts from business, faith communities, foreign policy, social sciences, philanthropy and related fields. One third of the group is Muslim-American.

Staff
This project has been convened by two non-profit organizations with expertise in building consensus on complex public issues: Search for Common Ground and the Consensus Building Institute. Also partnering on this project are the Viewpoint Learning organization, which facilitated a series of U.S. citizen deliberations on U.S.-Muslim relations, and the Gallup Organization, whose Muslim world polling initiative provides the most comprehensive and timely assessment of Muslim public opinion available.  Edelman has provided substantial pro bono assistance in communications strategy and media outreach.

Unique Capacity for Impact Funders and Financial Needs
Changing public discourse and foreign policy on an issue of this magnitude presents exceptional challenges. This project has unique assets to meet those challenges:

• The Leadership Group’s outstanding credibility, visibility and access to the White House, key Senate and House leaders, the current Administration, the media, and opinion leaders in business, foreign policy, national security, and faith communities;

• A consensus among its Leadership Group on how and why relations between the U.S. and Muslim countries and communities have deteriorated, and what can be done to improve them;

• The diversity of the Leadership Group, in disciplines, backgrounds, faiths, and political perspectives, which has attracted attention and added credibility to the consensus that its members reached;

• The Leadership Group’s direct engagement with American citizens—to inform them on the issues, learn what they think and ascertain what they are willing to support; and

• A communications strategy designed with the advice of world-class experts. The project team has engaged key constituencies to generate interest in the project and dialogue on the issues.

Funders and Financial Needs
Major support for the project has been provided by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, American Petroleum Institute, the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Mr. George Russell, and other individual and institutional donors.