CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — President Barack Obama was the world's favored candidate in what was America's first global election. The key question is how the Obama administration will tap this rare good will to re-establish U.S. credibility and repair its reputation. How Obama manages issues in the Muslim world will determine the success or failure of his foreign policy because it is here that the greatest challenges lie, especially in dealing with the two U.S. war fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Relations between the United States and the Muslim world have long been deteriorating. People in the Islamic world ascribe this to U.S. policy over the years. Perceptions have been shaped by decades of an uneven approach that placed the security of Israel and the need for cheap oil above and beyond the concerns of others and justice for the Palestinians.
The challenges the new U.S. administration faces are daunting. But it can begin by changing the tone in which it engages with the Muslim world to establish a relationship based on respect. It should signal that it cares about what others think and say. This can convey paradigm shifts in approach, even if it takes time for policy changes to be effected.