sher is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment, where he oversees the Endowment's research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002-2004) and deputy prime minister (2004-2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, developmen

ionist, presenting themselves as the holders of absolute truth and of the solution to all society's problems." But the Arab public "is not stupid," Muasher added. "While we will continue to see exclusionist discourses in much of the Arab world for the foreseeable future, results will end up trumping id

President Obama could have done more to restrai= leaders in Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran or Syria from going to extremes. But, ultimately, argues Muasher, this is the Arabs' fight for their polit=cal future. If 500,000 American troops in Iraq, and $1 trillion, could not impl=nt lasting pluralism in th