/media-library/blog post/22206/providing-perspective-on-the-muslimworld
August 6, 2010
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.