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Sat 06 Jun 2009Obama's overture to the Muslim world
CHANGE CANNOT happen overnight, US president Barack Obama told his audience in Cairo University on Thursday. And nor can a single speech eradicate years of mistrust between Muslims and the West. These self-imposed caveats aside, it must be recognised that his address gracefully began his objective of creating “a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground”.
Framed in an engaged approach towards the Muslim world, Mr Obama skilfully inserted seven major policy tensions which inflame its relations with the West yet can help repair them if tackled in common.
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