War of ideas

James K. Glassman, the new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, has launched a more aggressive program to counter Islamist extremism through a war of ideas.

"The war of ideas is a very important aspect of the non-kinetic part of the war on terror," Mr. Glassman said in an interview this week. "In fact, it may be the most important aspect of the war on terror."

Mr. Glassman's office is the lead federal agency in organizing both policy and programs designed to "push back against violent extremist ideology." Most of the focus is on al Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups.

The war of ideas is supposed to be one of three equal components of the U.S.-led war on terrorism, after military operations and law enforcement and intelligence counterterrorism.

However, it is by far the least developed aspect, according to U.S. officials.

Mr. Glassman said the specific mission of the new programs is to "create an environment that is hostile to violent extremism." ...

One key aspect of the new campaign is to encourage credible voices from the Muslim world to speak out against extremism. ...

A second U.S. government effort involves ... educational and other programs to "divert" Muslims, especially young people, away from extremism. ...

Another U.S.-backed program is a Farsi-language social-networking site called Parsloop.com in which Farsi speakers in Iran and outside the country can discuss issues of importance to Iranians. A second "dot-gov" Farsi site directly promotes American messages and ideas. ...

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