"Muslims world over seeing Obama as an 'internationalist president'".Byline: ANI Washington, Nov 20 (ANI): Prof John Esposito For the pianist named John Esposito, see . John Louis Esposito (born 19 May1940, Brooklyn, New York City) is a professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. , a leading US expert on Islam, has reportedly said that the US President-elect Barack Obama has been welcomed worldover as an 'internationalist President', contrary to George W Bush who, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. him, is often regarded as a 'swaggering Texas cowboy'. Esposito said that Obama's foreign policy will be expected to be all the things that many in the Muslim world saw as lacking in the Bush administration, which was viewed as "neo-colonial, unilateral, arrogant, militant and interventionist". "An Obama administration will be expected to be multilateral, favouring diplomacy over military threats and intervention, and avoiding what many believe was a neo-colonialist American foreign policy whose verbal commitment to democracy promotion and human rights was hypocritical. Obama's administration cannot, like Bush's, fail to 'walk the way it talks'," the Daily Times quoted him as saying. Esposito further said that the Bush administration continued to look the other way in its relations with authoritarian Muslim allies. "It refused to accept the election of Hamas, and while it condemned Hizbollah, it sat on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. as Israel carpet-bombed Lebanon, destroying much of its infrastructure in a war whose victims were overwhelmingly civilians," he said and added: "Many Muslims today expect Obama to live up to the principles of self-determination, justice and human rights that they associate with America and break with the Bush administration's double standard in not promoting democracy and human rights in the Middle East Human rights in the Middle East are often reported to be a cause of concern among many outsider observers, governmental and non-governmental. There are some issues prevalent in most Middle Eastern countries, often due to their common Islamic background. ." "Esposito points out that most Muslims, like Westerners, are deeply concerned about religious extremism and terrorism, considering that the majority of attacks and victims have been in the Muslim world. For most Muslims, who admire the West's freedoms, technologies, and rule of law, the major issues are respect for Islam and Muslims. Many will be looking for an American administration that emphasises diplomacy and dialogue," he concluded. (ANI) Copyright 2008 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion