Karen Hughes at the US Islamic Forum

February 18, 2006. Doha - Qatar

Your Highness, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Emir of Qatar, Prime Minister Erodgan of Turkey, OIC Secretary General Elmeleddin Ihsanoglu, distinguished guests and friends, it is a great honor and pleasure for me to be here with you. I think we must acknowledge with great respect and gratitude the work of the organizers of this Forum and the many partners, and the Qatari Government, in making this a success. I want to highlight especially the initiative of the Brookings Project on US policy towards the Islamic World, which has sought since September 11th, to look at the region and at U.S. policy in a scholarly, balanced and constructive way. You have advanced and enriched the much needed dialogue between Americans and the Muslim world and among Americans of different faiths.

The theme of this year’s US-Islamic World Forum – Leaders Effect Change – underscores the crucial role individuals play in transforming societies as leaders either by design or accident. We have seen these leaders in all shapes and sizes, and often in the most unexpected places, in my country. Rosa Parks, who by refusing to give up her seat on the bus, sparked a movement that brought freedom and equality to an oppressed people.

Martin Luther King, who dared to dream, and who by doing so, helped all Americans find their humanity. Ronald Reagan – a former actor turned president – who challenged the status quo embodied in the Berlin Wall, enabling millions of Europeans to live in peace and freedom. They all had a gift and a passion for what was right, but they also had the good fortune of an environment that allowed and even welcomed change. They faced a political system with many faults, an economic system with inequalities, a country with many flaws and challenges – and we still have many flaws and challenges – but one that also provides the political and social space for change, for growth and for correction, for that change which is feared and which is fought and which, when it finally arrives, is seen as absolutely needed and too long in coming.

We see these same leaders today across the Arab world, as a growing number of men and women find their own voice and chart their own path to freedom and democracy. The Muslim world has real heroes, some of whom have paid the ultimate price. Last year, Afghanistan lost a great man when Mawlavi Abdullah Fayez was murdered in Kandahar. As head of the Kandahar Ulema Council, he preached eloquently against the killing of innocent Afghans. He was a man of great courage and integrity who never abandoned his country and his people. And a little over a year ago, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was brutally murdered in downtown Beirut. This is a crime which needs to be fully clarified and explained, no matter where the leads take us. Rafiq Hariri was a man who passionately loved his country and energetically worked for the day when it would be free, sovereign and prosperous. This is also our dream and our urgent goal for Lebanon. It is ironic that his death effected a change that he would have welcomed in his life – the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

We respect the inalienable right of our brothers and sisters in the Islamic world to choose freedom. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made clear in Cairo last June that “liberty is the universal longing of every soul, and democracy is the ideal path for every nation.” As the President noted in November 2003, “Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe – because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export.”

We now seek to chart a different course to support the democratic aspirations of people in the region. We are translating words into action by real support for civil society, for reformers and patriots who love their countries and want to see them change for the better, from Morocco to Pakistan. We actively support and are working for the establishment of a democratic and free Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel. We also continue to work with governments, most of whom are friends of long-standing, in a climate of mutual respect to promote gradual change. We will also continue to speak out forcefully and unapologetically – whether the issue is police treatment of prisoners in Iraq or violence against Egyptian voters, journalists and election observers. And when we make mistakes – as we will again – we need to improve and change.

We are encouraged by positive change in the region. This has been a year of real accomplishment and forward progress. We witnessed the courage of Iraqi and Afghan voters as they defied the terrorists to express their views and exercise their rights after a long nightmare that lasted generations. We have been impressed by the thirst for democracy demonstrated by voters in Palestine or Egypt or Lebanon. They have been too long denied and it is abundantly clear to all that what the region needs are more voices, greater participation and pluralism, greater trust in the people – the deepening and strengthening of initial steps towards securing a more humane, tolerant and prosperous future for all.

The recent Palestinian elections that saw Hamas win a majority of seats reflects this desire for change. Now Hamas must live up to the expectations placed upon them by the voters to accept the democratic mandate that comes with elections. They must change to bring results for the Palestinian people.

Elections play a critical role in democracies but democracies cannot be sustained without a strengthening of civil society, a vibrant and independent press, the rule of law and a respect for diversity and protection of minorities from the tyranny of an elected majority. As President Bush recently noted, it requires the raising up of “strong, accountable institutions that last longer than a single vote.” This is the challenge in the region, that elections be democratic and that societies be transformed into a community able to sustain and deepen democratic processes. When people cast ballots they should have a true choice – a range of parties and view points that represent a true spectrum. This process of building up institutions will take time, but let us be clear: the imperfections of democracy should not be used as an excuse or crutch by those in the region who fear the voice of the people. The true promise of democracy requires the governments of the region pass laws that open paths of peaceful opposition that will reduce the appeal of radicalism and give citizens a true choice in shaping their future. There is no other way forward for the Muslim world other than real democracy – deep and wide – that shields against both Islamic radicalism and autocracy.

As democracy progresses in the region, the people will make choices. Some, including in the west, will decry the “bad choices” that democracy supposedly brings. We do not believe that the ebbs and tides of democratic life are to be feared. We realize that democracy is a dynamic process over time and we are committed to reform and democracy in the region for the long run. Democracies will make mistakes and the people will choose wisely or not, but in the end, if democracy grows – if the sinews of democratic practice are exercised – then the system will correct itself. The key is to allow, and encourage, societies to become more deeply pluralistic, to change for the better, and to learn positively from the mistakes that any open system will produce.

The United States continues to change in other ways. We recognize that in our efforts to secure our borders after September 11, we left many with the impression that the United States no longer welcomed visitors. That could not be further from the truth. Last month Secretary Rice and our Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff announced a joint agenda to strengthen technology and safety at our borders while making visitors and travelers to America feel more welcome. We want to ease the path of legitimate travelers and make it an easier and a friendlier experience to enter our country.

We have also reached out to American university presidents, to encourage greater engagement and exchange with the world, and especially the Muslim world, and in their own language. And we are reaching out as never before to the Arab media. Last year our Near East Public Diplomacy Office alone carried out over 400 media events with the press in the region, mostly the Arabic-language press and broadcast media. I know I did my part by appearing on Al-Jazeera. And this is just the beginning, as we seek to establish the ability to engage with regional media in the region during the same time zone. We do need to communicate better and respond effectively as we present the truth of America – America as it is, with its flaws and its hope and its promise.

Other Muslim leaders are, even as I speak, engaged in a daily struggle for human dignity and universal freedom. A few hundred miles from here to the North, a heroic Iranian journalist named Akbar Ganji fights a noble and lonely battle for liberty in his beloved land. Imprisoned since April 22, 2000 in Evin Prison, his crime is to have brought to light through his writing the involvement of government authorities in a series of killings of writers and dissidents. He is emblematic of a whole generation of young Iranians who will one day make Iran a society and government worthy of its great people.

A few hundred miles from here to the West, five heroic Syrian patriots who have peacefully and constructively worked for the rebirth and reform of their historic country were just recently released from years in prison. They never should have been imprisoned in the first place but rather, should be leading the peaceful and democratic reform that the Syrian people so earnestly seek and expect.

Other brave Syrians like Dr. Kamal Labwani still languish in a Syrian jail cell. Still other Muslim leaders, like the Egyptian scholar and intellectual Jamal al-Banna – the younger brother of the founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers – astonish us with the breadth of their learning, with their passion for the truth and their profound analysis of the present crisis. Figures like Akbar Ganji and Labwani, Al-Banna and others have our deep admiration and respect. They are true leaders who are seeking positive change in a very personal and immediate and powerful way.

The leaders exist but the environment created by decades of misplaced priorities, repression and despair often prevents the development of the political and social space so needed for change and for new ideas to flourish. We all know the dire and sobering information contained in the Arab Human Development Reports of 2002 through 2004. The authors pointed to the lack of freedom, the lack of knowledge and the limitation of women’s rights as key factors holding the Arab world back from reaching their full potential. While some countries are making progress, we need to challenge ourselves to greater partnership, greater boldness, greater bravery to take historic steps towards changing the negative environment that limits human achievement in an important and vibrant part of the world.

We Americans have changed. Change is never easy but it is necessary in the life of nations as well as individuals. Sometimes it requires looking deeply and coldly into a mirror and accepting one’s mistake and faults. The American people have done this during key periods of our own history – as we faced the Great Depression in the 1930s, in the aftermath of great conflicts like the Second World War, and especially during the Civil Rights Movement when we confronted the very real racism and shortcomings of our own society at the time. Most recently we saw the all to real face of this lingering legacy of segregation in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. With deep respect and sympathy I say to you that the Muslim world needs such introspection which is the essential step towards positive change. This is not something we in the West can or should impose, it can only come from within. Much of this self-criticism is already going on and it deserves our respect and acknowledgement. Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid offered a powerful and moving analysis recently when he noted:

“Muslims themselves can and must propagate an understanding of the “right” Islam, and thereby discredit extremist ideology. Yet to accomplish this task requires the understanding and support of like-minded individuals, organizations and governments throughout the world. Our goal must be to illuminate the hearts and minds of humanity, and offer a compelling alternative vision of Islam, one that banishes the fanatical ideology of hatred to the darkness from which it emerged.”

We all need to change together. We all need illumination in these dark days. We pledge to stand with those who seek positive change, with those who want a better way and a better life in the lands of Islam. Not seeking to impose some bad copy of America on a reluctant and suspicious people, but appealing to those universal rights which are at the vital core of all great religions and in the hearts of all believers.

About seven centuries ago, a great man named Wali al-Din Abdul Rahman, who lived in Morocco and Tunisia and Spain and Egypt and whom we call “Ibn Khaldun” wrote of the rise and fall of civilizations and on the reality of change in the life of nations. Ibn Khaldun described the life cycle of peoples and of great empires, the decay of once flourishing societies that were unable or unwilling to be flexible enough to adapt to changing times.

We all know that change is coming. How it comes and how we welcome it and how we create the proper conditions for a better future – in our lives and our hearts and understanding – is our most pressing task. It is a shared task which must be based on mutual respect and a willingness to reconsider long-held positions while remaining true to our common values. I know America is up to the challenge in this changing and often bewildering world. I am confidant that the future of the Muslim world can be as glorious and as significant as its past.

Thank you very much.