As we become a single world, how all countries integrate diverse communities becomes vital to our collective success. It is heartbreaking to see negative perceptions of Muslims rising in the U.S. as we also see negative perceptions of Americans in the Muslim world. Leadership is needed on all sides to point to what unites us rather than what divides us. In Pakistan, Acumen Fund’s work illuminates the potential to work across borders and get concrete, measurable things accomplished together. Supporting effective solutions to poverty, focusing on stronger media communications that highlight what is working in the Muslim world, and insisting on greater partnership - and dialogue - are small but necessary steps toward knowing one another. And that is where change - and dignity - must start.
We could improve our efforts in this direction by working to teach everyone on the basis of what current science has shown we have in common. For instance, we now know we live in a world that tends to be self-organising and humans have minds that tend to be integrative yet we continue to teach on the basis that we live in a world of parts that can and should be managed into a stable state and from one stable state to another by people taught to think unintegratively.
Reply to Graham DouglasThis is indeed something that needs to be focused on quite actively since it has the potential to be problematic for all concerned. Indeed, as pointed out in the initial comments by Jacqueline, the main task lies in identifying the positive aspects of what is working in the Muslim world. I for one can relate to the positive developments in Pakistan. The country has indeed come a long way in the last six years, primarily in the economic sphere. For the most part, the financial markets have been booming and last year the Karachi Stock Exchange was the best performing in the region. In terms of GDP growth, last year it was around 8% and this year would be around 6%, still much higher than what we were accustomed to in the last year. In addition to the improvement in macroeconomic indicators, the economy that is awash with liquidity has resulted in a boom for consumer finance. Car leasing and other consumer products have finally become a reality for many, especially the rising middle class. The loan application procedure is also being streamlined for small and medium entreprenuers as well as for those involved in the agricultural sector. Foreign portfolio investment has also added to the bullish trend in the stock market, which saw huge participation by small investors, resulting in many newly privatised state enterprises’ IPOs being over-subscribed many times over. If all this might somehow also come to more prominence in the mainstream media here, some of the negative connotaitons associated with Pakistan and with doing business there might be corrected. The same could also hold true for other countries in the region. On the flip side, better understanding of the U.S. could be brought about by increased interaction and positive projection in the media. I can vouch for myself, in that, being here on a scholarship has opened a whole new world to me and interactions with diverse groups of people have probably moulded my outlook for the better. The same I am sure could be brought by increasing faculty and student exchanges between the U.S. and countries in the Muslim world, which would eventually open up the way for better mutual understanding and a more stable security situation! I hope Jacqueline can vouch for some of what I have said since she herself has been to Pakistan and has interacted with people there as well.
Reply to Ali Sufyan