Can Holy Lands Become Holy Democracies?

It’s a debate that influences far more than geopoliticsâ??—â??claims that “Islam hates the West” is a hyperbolic strain of the former view, as is Emirati Lieutenant General Dhahi Tamim’s response that there will be a “clash of civilizations” if Donald Trump is elected. To be clear, there are many interpretations and variations of Islam, as there is for any religion, and some interpretations are far more liberal than others, but it’s a question of fundamental difference in perspective between these two approaches. Is Islam, defined however one sees it presently, compatible with democratic liberalism? Can fundamentalist Muslims in the Middle East envision their religion co-existing with democracy? Can Americans accept an Islamic brand of democracy as legitimate? Perhaps these questions seem facile, but they need to be answered plainly to the growing number of people, in both the Middle East and the U.S., who believe there truly is a clash of civilizations brewing.