Grappling with the question of the inclusion of Islamists in democratic processes has been personally challenging. As a progressive, I have frequently lent my voice to those who have argued against cultural explanations for why few Muslim societies are democratic. I am committed to encouraging democratization on a global scale, although I question whether positive change can be realized through external intervention. I believe that international standards of human rights should be applied throughout the Middle East and Muslim world (indeed, globally) and that the greatest obstacles to the realization of those norms and practices are the repressive and nondemocratic regimes that prevail in the region. It is a sad truth, as well, that many of these nondemocratic regimes came to power, have remained in power, or have been substantially strengthened by direct support from democratic nations. I am shamed and embarrassed by these ongoing practices.

An honest commitment to democratization in the Middle East and Muslim world requires recognition that Islamists are legitimate political actors with substantial constituencies. They cannot be excluded wholesale from the political arena on either normative or practical grounds. Yet I recognize that Islamist groups do not aspire to the same secular vision of freedom and equality that I embrace. They may, in fact, aspire to banish that vision from the political arena. The tension – sometimes, the open conflict – between these personal commitments is not easily resolved.