Tracking the War of Ideas: A Poll of Ottawa Muslims

Clark McCauley, Christian Leuprecht, Todd Hataley, Conrad Winn, Bidisha Biswas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A 2008 poll of 430 Ottawa Muslims found predominantly negative views of the U.S. war on terrorism, including the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. This poll also assessed approval of Western powers (U.S., Canada, Israel, United Nations) and challengers of Western power (Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hizballah, government of Iran). Surprisingly, attitudes of Ottawa Muslims toward militant Muslim groups were unrelated to their attitudes toward Western governments. Discussion suggests that this pattern, if confirmed in other Muslim polls, would mean that the war of ideas against radical Islam must address not one target but two: favorable opinions of militants and unfavorable opinions of the U.S. Muslims who come to like the West more may not like Muslim militants any less. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)804-819
Number of pages16
JournalTerrorism and Political Violence
Volume23
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Nov 2011

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