Increased Economic Exchange between East and West
The War on Terrorism, being fought since September 11, 2001, resulted in an overt and full-blown confrontation between the East – represented by Muslim countries – and the West – spearheaded by the US and consisting of European and OECD countries; in the military sense, the United States commenced offensive operations in Afghanistan by October 2001, and in the economic sense, the security paranoia after this psychologically devastating terrorist attack has inhibited people-to-people contacts as well as exchange of economic sources, inputs, and ideas between the East and the West. This article focuses on the social relationship between ‘East’ and ‘West’ defined as such, and tries to evaluate the contemporary scheme of this relationship in the backdrop of military operations and worldwide security paranoia. On April 26, 2010, US President Barack Obama commenced a series of exchanges between business leaders and entrepreneurs from the United States as well as the Muslim world as part of his promise during a highlight speech to the Muslim world in Cairo in June 2009; while this is a welcome step to re-engage the Muslim population and develop harmonious ties that are free from suspicion and mistrust, it is also important to gauge Muslim sentiment – religious and economic – in response to these U.S. overtures. The sentiments and interactions of these two important global communities must be undertaken within definite social and economic parameters. The highlights of U.S.-Muslim relations, as well as recommendations for the progressive consolidation of these relations, are also discussed in this paper.