SCHOLAR HIGHLIGHTS DIVERSITY OF AND CHANGES IN MUSLIM WORLD

Most Muslims in the world live outside the Middle East, and Americans know very little about them, Richard Norton, a Woodrow Wilson fellow and expert on Middle Eastern affairs, told Stonehill students and faculty during an address at Alumni Hall on Feb. 25.

Norton, a professor of international relations and anthropology at Boston University and the first Woodrow Wilson fellow ever to visit Stonehill, spent a week at the College as a guest of the Martin Institute and its director, Peter Ubertaccio.

He conducted class discussions, participated in seminars, dined with faculty and advised students interested in studying in the Middle East.

About 175 people gathered to hear his public lecture, "Muslims: The Other 99%" -- those who do not engage in terrorism.

Muslims Worldwide
Norton said there are 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide and the largest Muslim countries are outside the Middle East. At most, a fifth of Muslims are Arabs. The largest Muslim population is in Indonesia, while India has the second or third largest population in the world.

Norton said a small number of Muslims take part in violence, about "40,000 or so bad guys," he estimated. "But what about the rest?"

 Many are like the smiling little girl in a color advertisement he displayed that read, in Arabic, "Mommy, I want to have my birthday party at McDonald's!"

Muslims are fascinated by the United States, particularly its movies, books and music, said Norton.  They also admire its technology and democratic freedoms.

Since Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1798, Muslims have been coping with change, the professor said.

Women and Change in the Middle East
In Egypt today, 60 percent of students in the best universities are women. That is raising debate on issues of how men and women interact professionally, about a woman's modesty in dress and her "honor," or virginity.

In some Middle Eastern countries, men are allowed to have several wives, but in marriage contracts, women have begun stipulating that their husbands can have only one, Norton said.

To marry, a man in Egypt must be able to provide a home for his wife and pay her family a dowry. It's common for men to work at several low-paying jobs and for couples who can't afford marriage to live together instead.

 "That's what's on people's minds," said Norton. "That's their concern, the basic quality of their lives and the lives of their children."

Norton was asked why "the other 99%" of Muslims are not more outspoken about violence by the minority.

"They are not talking to you and I, they are talking to their own constituencies," the professor said. "The voices are there, but we have to work to find them, because they're not reported in our media."

The Iraq Question
Norton was asked which presidential candidate's view is more practical, that of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who advocates removing American troops from Iraq within 60 days, or Republican John McCain, who says American may have to maintain a presence in Iraq for 100 years.

"We're going to be in Iraq for a long time," Norton responded.

A former Army officer who taught with Gen. David Petraeus at West Point, Norton was an advisor to the Iraq Study Group in 2006. He said he did not favor the war, but "it's done. The pottery is broken. The government is destroyed."

He called Saddam Hussein's regime a "withering, rotten government," but said it is questionable whether the new government in Iraq can survive without military support from the United States.

 "The question is what will the level of troops be," Norton said. "A year after the new president is inaugurated, there will be 100,000 troops in Iraq. It's inevitable. The risk of leaving is just too high."

Norton said he had "very positive things to say" about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, "but when he's talking about having troops home in 18 months, it won't happen ... I think he's speaking honestly, but the more he studies the details, the more he's likely to come around to a different point of view." 

Whoever becomes president must conduct active diplomacy in the region, the professor said, and "the last thing I would say we need to do is invade a third country."

Issued 02/27/08