Islamic-Western Relations

This post is meant to underline the importance for America and the West of establishing strong, lasting ties with the Islamic world. Muslims make up almost 1/5 of the world's population, and at 1.2 billion people Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world (excepting Mormons). As Islam spreads across the globe, it will be very important for U.S. national security and economic interests to keep on good terms with the civilization as a whole. We cannot take Islamic fundamentalists as an example of the entire religion, as Islam is by nature a peaceful religion in much the same way as Christianity and Judaism (in my view more so). There are many reasons for the problems in the US-Islamic relations right now, and I really don't have the time to explain them all. If you're really interested you should pick up the books Infidels and What's Right With Islam, both of which are instrumental to an understanding of this subject. However, my real point is that one of the key objectives of the next few administrations should be to address this issue, backing away from such an overt pro-Israel stance and re-assesing US interests in the Middle East.