Tracking the War of Ideas: A Poll of Ottawa Muslims

Abstract

Abstract A 2008 poll of 430 Ottawa Muslims found predominantly negative views of the U.S. war on terrorism, including the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. This poll also assessed approval of Western powers (U.S., Canada, Israel, United Nations) and challengers of Western power (Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hizballah, government of Iran). Surprisingly, attitudes of Ottawa Muslims toward militant Muslim groups were unrelated to their attitudes toward Western governments. Discussion suggests that this pattern, if confirmed in other Muslim polls, would mean that the war of ideas against radical Islam must address not one target but two: favorable opinions of militants and unfavorable opinions of the U.S. Muslims who come to like the West more may not like Muslim militants any less. Keywords: Clash of CivilizationsMuslim militantsOttawa MuslimsterrorismU.S. governmentwar in Afghanistanwar in Iraqwar of ideas Acknowledgments This research was supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security through the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), grant number N00140510629. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or the Royal Military College of Canada. Notes Note: Tabled percentages include Don't Know and No Response, except for family income. Note: Tabled percentages include Don't Know and No Response. a Percentage of respondents giving 4, 5, or 6 ratings on scale from 1 not help(hurt) to 6 help(hurt) a lot. Note: Tabled percentages include Don't Know and No Response. a Tabled percentages combine responses of 5, 6, and 7 on 7-point disapproval-approval scale. Note: Percentage Don't Know and No Response in parentheses. Note: N = 430 for tabled correlations, Don't Know and No Response recoded 4 on 1–7 approval scale. Samuel P. Huntington, "The Clash of Civilizations?," Foreign Affairs 72, no. 3 (1993): 22–49. William Rosenau, Waging the "War of Ideas" (Washington, DC: RAND, 2006), http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2006/RAND_RP1218.pdf (accessed 27 November 2009). Pew Global Attitudes Project, The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Each Other (2006), http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=253 (accessed 24 October 2007). Karen P. Hughes, "Sinking in the Polls," Washington Post, Monday September 17 (2007), http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/16/AR2007091600909.html (accessed 30 May 2011). Christian Leuprecht, Todd Hataley, Sophia Moskalenko, and Clark McCauley, "Narratives and counter-narratives for global jihad: Opinion versus action," in Eelco J. A. M. 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Marilyn Brewer, "The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup Love or Outgroup Hate?," Journal of Social Issues, 55, no. 3 (1999): 429–444. Mike Mullen, "Strategic Communication: Getting Back to Basics," Joint Force Quarterly, 55, no. 4 (2009): 3, http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Press/jfq_pages/editions/i55/1.pdf (accessed 12 November 2009). Ibid., 4. Mark Tessler and Michael D. Robbins, "What Leads Some Ordinary Arab Men and Women to Approve of Terrorist Acts Against the United States?," Journal of Conflict Resolution, 51, no. 2 (2007): 305–328. Huntington (see note 1 above). Additional informationNotes on contributorsClark McCauley Clark McCauley is affiliated with the Psychology Department, Bryn Mawr College. Christian Leuprecht Christian Leuprecht is affiliated with the Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College of Canada. Todd Hataley Todd Hataley is affiliated with the Department of Political Science and Economics, Royal Military College of Canada. Conrad Winn Conrad Winn is affiliated with COMPAS Public Opinion and Customer Research. Bidisha Biswas Bidisha Biswas is affiliated with the Department of Political Science, Western Washington University.