How Britain blew its chance with the Muslim world ; Obama's election was a huge opportunity for the UK to remake itself in Islamic eyes. We miss it at our peril [Edition 2]

Summary

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IN MARCH, just before President Obama's visit to London, the US embassy called my office at the Al Jazeera English bureau in London. Given the nature of our relationship with the Bush administration, I was half expecting a complaint. What followed was a huge and pleasant surprise: an invitation for Al Jazeera English to screen a documentary I presented on Islam In America at the embassy.

It was a small reminder of America's remarkable ability to renew itself and how it is seen in the world. If there's anything that Barack Obama's presidency represents for Muslims -- whether living in western societies or in predominantly Muslim countries --it's the chance to rewrite the story of America and the Muslim world after the nadir of the past eight years. President Obama's election was an incredible, Houdini-like act by America, freeing it overnight from the hostility of the Bush years.

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Extract

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How Britain blew its chance with the Muslim world ; Obama's election was a huge opportunity for the UK to remake itself in Islamic eyes. We miss it at our peril [Edition 2]

It should have been a Houdini act for the UK, too. Obama's election was also a huge opportunity for the UK to remake itself in the eyes of the Muslim world. But it's a chance that has thus far been completely blown by the Government. The speech by foreign secretary David Miliband today...

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