FREEradicals - "Words are easy and many …"

"Words are easy and many …"

Remember the following?

This, of course, is President Barack Obama's speech, delivered at the Grand Hall of Cairo, Egypt exactly a month ago. I have just read it again. It is a masterpiece – a passionate call for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim world and for peace in the Middle East.

But, let's face it: very little has been done so far to turn these nice words into an action plan, and I suspect that Obama is now losing momentum. This isn't altogether his fault; after all, there is so much on his plate already, and it takes time to rebuild relations, and the Middle East is so complex and difficult to sort out. Wasn't it Winston Churchill who pointed out that, "words are easy and many, while great deeds are difficult and rare"?

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Introduction

FREErad!cals is the ICSR blog. It's a forum for debate and fresh ideas on radicalisation and political violence. It features some of the most innovative, young thinkers, discussing radicals and radicalisation. They are looking at how the challenge has been understood, and how it should be addressed.