: Youth of Muslim World Rank US as Most “Admired” Country

You would think otherwise after feasting on a diet of media images showing angry Muslim youth calling for the death of the West, but a recent poll by the British Council shows that most young people in the Muslim world count the US and Britain among their most “admired” countries in the world, citing their “strong economy, liberty, and democracy”. Granted, the survey, which inteviewed over 4,500 men and women in major cities in the Muslim world, also revealed mistrust due to US foreign policy in the Muslim world, as well as a drop in support for the US and UK after the events of 9/11, but the survey still ranked those countries as being more admired than Muslim countries such as Egypt or Syria. “It is not just a case of us and them,” explained Lady Helena Kennedy, the chairman of the British Council. “There are contradictory views amongst young Muslims about the economic success of the west and the advantages and disadvantages that flow from it.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.