Zakaria Sees Improvement

Fareed Zakaria steps back at year end, takes a look at the bigger picture, and decides that things are looking up in the Islamic world.. A sample:

SINCE September 11, 2001, I’ve written a column once a year pointing out the good news, which is that Islamic extremism is losing. The movement, in all of its variations, has been unable to garner mass support in any Muslim country.
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In those places in the Muslim world where political life is open, the evidence is overwhelming. The 2004 elections in Malaysia and Indonesia saw secular parties trounce Islamic ones. Malaysia’s case is particularly instructive. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ran on a platform of reform and good government, reckoning that voters cared more about ending corruption than enacting Islamic law. The result was a devastating defeat for the Islamist party, its worst showing in 30 years.

He's right.