Blog Posts tagged with "outreach"

Hila Hanif, U.S. European Command Special Assistant for Muslim Outreach

I recently reached my halfway point working as the U.S. European Command Special Assistant for Muslim Outreach. As an Office of the Secretary of Defense Presidential Management Fellow, I’m here on a 6-month rotation to help the commands identify and develop a strategy for outreach and engagement with the Muslim world. I spent a fair bit of time thinking about this back in D.C. before heading to Europe. In my first week I asked command leadership what the main goals were in addressing Muslim Affairs. To help them out, I provided three goals that I thought were appropriate:

A) Understand Muslim perceptions of U.S. operations in Muslim lands and address misperceptions.
B) Improve our own understanding of operations in Muslim lands.
C) Garner support from and partnership with Muslim nations  for operations in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

The answer I got was “all of the above, and please add a few more to the list.”

I continued with my research and met with different directorates at EUCOM, all of whom added different perspectives that I had never thought of as to why it is important for EUCOM to focus on Muslim affairs. From Switzerland to Belgium to France to Germany, I have seen different estimates of the Muslim populations of those countries and none have exceeded 5-10%, yet political and security issues related to the Muslim communities within EUCOM’s area of focus receive a lot of attention in these countries.

Since 9/11 there has been much dialogue about curbing violent extremism originating from Muslim communities, but the current U.S. Government administration has been taking a new approach to engaging with the Muslim world: There is a recognition that the majority of Muslims are not represented by the violent extremists that so easily gain media attention, and that it is important to engage with the Muslim world in areas that are of mutual interest. This includes working together to curb violent extremism, but goes further to forge partnerships in other areas such as health and business. Ninety-eight percent of al-Qa‘ida’s victims between 2006 and 2008 were from Muslim majority countries, and communication and outreach to these communities should recognize the fact that we share very similar security concerns. Included in these mutual concerns is a desire to see stability in places like Afghanistan.

The “Muslim World” is not a monolith with one distinct set of ideals and concerns, but the truth is that many Muslim communities around the world pay close attention to the struggles of Muslim communities elsewhere. As we find ourselves engaged militarily in Muslim nations, or simply addressing security concerns of Muslim populations elsewhere, it is important to communicate and interact with these communities. Just looking at the U.S.’s number one military priority, Afghanistan, the partnership we have with certain Muslim countries has really added value to our traditional alliances. Notably, when dealing with population-centric warfare, where interaction with and cultural understanding of the local population matters, Allies such as the Turks often bring a comparative cultural advantage.

As we continue to develop EUCOM’s Muslim outreach priorities, I would like to solicit ideas from our online followers on creative ways to engage with our Muslim friends and neighbors to ensure the strategy we develop is effective, efficient and executable. If there are opportunities we should be aware of or other organizations we should be partnering with, please share your ideas with us!

Hila Hanif
U.S. European Command Special Assistant for Muslim Outreach
Fellow, Office of the Secretary of Defense Presidential Management