We all need a better understanding of what's happening in the Muslim world. The non-Muslim world is in a dangerous cycle of self-fulfilling paranoia. That's why I attended a conference of the Organisation of Islamic Countries in Malaysia recently.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi gave an electrifying speech, arguing that the divide between the Muslim world and the west has succeeded the cold war as the strategic issue of global concern. He said the Muslim world needed to do better, arguing that development was not just about lifting living standards.
'It must also mean a literate and informed society, a representative political system that gives effective voice to the people, the absence of severe irregularities, efficient and honest administration and a commitment to the rule of law,' he said. 'A country cannot be considered 'developed' until rights are respected, women are empowered, minorities protected and corruption eradicated.'
The Muslim world represents some of the world's poorest, most desperate places. Malaysia is a progressive model of how a mainly Muslim nation can navigate great ethnic differences and succeed. But its model cannot just be parachuted into other countries.
Faced with new competition from China and Vietnam, it has resisted turning inwards and is boldly positioning itself as part of the global supply chain. Economic growth is the best answer, probably the only answer, to extreme poverty. To grow, a nation needs the rule of law, property rights and education, and to widen the economic, social and political franchise to include women and minorities. Open trade and investment work.
When I first went into politics I held a simple view - that people were not greedy: they simply wanted someone to love, somewhere to work, somewhere to live, something to believe in and something to hope for. I now believe people also need something to lose: a stake in society. People with nothing to lose can do desperate things. Ownership is about dignity; it's the humiliation of marginalisation, lack of rights and the denial of hope that breeds extremism. These are big issues.
