A good friend asked me recently: Why do you call your project, "Selling" a Vision of Hope? He implied that the word "Selling" has to do with the mundane area of commerce, and may demean the vision in some way.

I thought about it for a while and I came up with two reasons why the word "Selling" is indispensable for our Vision of Hope.

In the first place, the word "Selling" implies that our vision is persuasive-that we are actually able to connect to the man on the street. When it comes to peace, a lot of good people have a lot of good ideas. But how many of them are actually able to sell their ideas on the ground? How many are able to move people so that they actually become inspired enough to take action on behalf of a vision? We want to "Sell" the vision, not just think about it, or philosophize about it, or write about it, or discuss it on a talk show. We want to "Sell" it to the man on the street, and inspire him with a sense of Hope, because in the final analysis, only he is really in the position to make the vision real, to give it substance on the ground.

In another sense, while it is true that the word "Selling" connotes a commercial transaction, in a very real sense, Selling a Vision of Hope is a business deal of sorts. What does the West want? The West wants Peace and a good measure of stability in the Middle East and the Muslim world. What do people in the Middle East want? Most people in the Middle East, except the ideological extremists, want a sense of Hope, a future that they can believe in. So bottom line, here's the deal: The West will Invest in the Middle East as a way of inspiring a sense of Hope, as a way of creating a new reality on the ground, which could one day lead to Peace. In exchange, people in the Middle East will begin to imagine the possibility of Hope, and will work hard toward that end.

Is it really that simple? No. But at the heart of Selling a Vision of Hope is an implied quid pro quo. We will Invest to inspire a sense of Hope, and you will remain open to the possibility of hope, because with hope, all things are possible, even the impossible dream of Peace. And the language to be used in our business negotiations will be the universal language of Common Sense, a bridge between the whole of mankind.