On July 27, Wadah Khanfar, the director general of the Al Jazeera Network, joined Steve Clemons, the director of the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program to discuss the nature and motivations of Al Jazeera and the network's relationship with the United States.

Mr. Khanfar began by emphasizing the great failure of the media over the past eight years.  He explained that too many journalists covering the Middle East have failed to objectively report the news, instead allowing their patriotism and biased analysis to infiltrate their work.  Mr. Khanfar expressed his regret that many people view Al Jazeera as anti-American.  He argued that Al Jazeera has been wrongly labeled as such because it chose not to take sides in the Middle East but instead represented the diverse range of voices present in the region.  He accused the American media of possessing an insufficient understanding of the Arab World and its history and, as a result, of having presented oversimplified, fragmented data. 

Despite his criticism of the American media, Mr. Khanfar believes that an opportunity to heal relations with the United States and, likewise, to heal internal wounds and tensions within the Islamic World is presenting itself.  President Obama's speech in Cairo put forth a new American vision that departed from the "with me or against me" attitude of previous administrations and has opened the door for change.  Mr. Khanfar warned against micro-involvement in the region, arguing that to move forward the U.S. must focus on the bigger picture, engage with as many parties as possible, and think of everyone as someone who has the potential to change and evolve.   

- -Event summary by Caroline Esser, Intern, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation