US-Muslim relations: hard choices ahead
For George W. Bush, the defining issue of this campaign is the war on terror. For John Kerry, the most important foreign-policy issue is nuclear nonproliferation and access to weapons of mass destruction. In both cases, these are issues closely linked to events and developments in a broad crescent of Islamic countries stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. It means that whoever wins the presidency, America’s relations with the Muslim world are going to sit high on the agenda. The Bush administration receives good marks from many officials and experts both in the United States and overseas for responding to the events of Sept. 11 with stepped-up attention to Arab and other Muslim countries. Full Story