Here, in its entirety, is John Kerry’s response in last week’s Time Magazine on how he would win the “war of ideas” in the Middle East:
TIME: How would you go about winning the war of ideas in the Middle East?
KERRY: What I intend to do is to put in play the economic power, the values and principles, the public diplomacy, so we’re isolating the radical Islamic extremists and not having the radical extremists isolate the United States.
It means bringing religious leaders together, including moderate mullahs, clerics, imams — pulling the world together in a dialogue about who these extremists really are and how they are hijacking the legitimacy of Islam itself. That takes leadership, and that leadership has not been put on the table.
You have almost 60% of the populations of Egypt and Saudi Arabia under 30, and 50% under 18. We have to engage in a way that offers them some alternative to the radical madrasahs that are educating them to hate and to go out and strap explosives around themselves.
They [the Bush Administration] haven’t even engaged in a legitimate effort to try to really transform the ability of Israel to find a legitimate entity to negotiate with. The only thing they do is rattle the saber.
As a service to readers, here is a JCI Summary of Kerry’s multi-faceted strategy:
He will “put in play” economic power, values and public diplomacy. He will “bring religious leaders together” for a “dialogue.” He will “engage in a way that offers [young people] some alternative.”
He will engage in a “legitimate effort” to “try” to “really transform” the “ability of Israel” to find a “legitimate entity” to “negotiate with.”
That’s it.
You know, I don’t think “nuance” means what he thinks it means.