Putting in Place a New Model for the Middle East, by Inspiring the World's Business and Political Leaders to Embrace a Vision of Hope, to Push the Peace Process Forward from Behind the Scenes, and to help Revitalize the Entire Region with Good Paying Jobs, Moderate Candidates, and Requisite Institutions, for the Sake of Global Peace, Prosperity and Freedom 

                                                     Executive Summary

The Middle East remains a precarious place. We have invested heavily in that part of the world, putting our precious blood and treasure on the line, but as yet we have been unable to bring even a small measure of peace and stability to that troubled region. There are recent developments afoot, including the turmoil on the Arab street, and the prospect of a nuclear Iran, which indicate that the Middle East could well slide into an even more precarious place, contrary to our nation's best interests and to the interest of global security as well. And yet, as ironic as it may seem, the very same existential threats which threaten some of the key players in the Middle East, including a nuclear Iran and the man on the street, are also the very same incentives which they have to come together in peace. It is even possible to imagine a scenario in which some very common existential threats are configured in just the right way, so as to create a mosaic of mutual self-interest.

What a wondrous world we live in. We look all around us and there is so much beauty to behold. And yet, there are grave problems as well, problems which are beginning to threaten our very existence on this good earth. What are the threats we face in our time? Granted, we may be generalizing somewhat, but it seems that the threats we face fall into three general categories: the threats to our Economy, the threats to the Environment, and the threats posed by ideological Extremism. We can refer to these types of threats-the Economy, the Environment, and Extremism-as the 3-E's, for short.

An Ideology of Common Sense is a new way of thinking and a new way of talking to one another, a new framework for rational discourse, based on the proposition that even in our fractured world there exists a core set of principles which are universal in their scope, and which have universal appeal. Common sense may be the only gift we were given to bring order to our lives. In our fractured world, common sense is the common denominator!

You don?t have to be a prophet to realize that the world is moving, at an ever accelerating rate of speed, toward some sort of ultimate conclusion. We?ve been around as a species for some 2,000,000 years, and for 99% of that time we?ve used our God-given common sense to survive. But in the last two hundred years, from the Industrial Revolution to the recent phenomenon of globalization, we find ourselves hurtling briskly toward an existential culmination of world events. So I ask you, which way will we go as a species?

The United States, along with many other Western nations, find themselves embroiled in a seemingly intractable struggle against the forces of ideological extremism and terror. The enemy is not Islam. Much of Islam is compatible with Western values, and most Muslims subscribe to those values. All religions contain certain scriptural passages which are not palatable to the modern mind. Most of us, however, use our common sense to ignore such passages, even as we embrace our respective religions. The enemy is ideological extremism.