Malaysia works to sell Islam on trade benefits

International Herald Tribune reported When he was still Malaysia's prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad was fond of saying that terrorism could not be defeated by invasion, but only by defeating the economic injustices that inspire it. But his message was often lost in his famously abrasive rhetoric. So his address to a summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference before retiring in late 2003, for example, is likely to be remembered more for his invective against Jews than for his call that Muslim nations cast off fundamentalism to achieve economic progress.

Daniel Drezner blogged Two years ago, then-Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammed gave a controversial talk at the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The gist of it was, "We muslims must embrace modernization -- so we can crush the Jews." Two years later, current Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is preaching the first, less offensive part of that message.

Orrin Judd blogged Nothing would transform their politics like economic development.

Economic Development might well transform their politics, but it might just make them more powerful and more able to push their agenda.