Irshad Manji says that rather than a Coalition of the Willing, an Alliance of the Interdependent is necessary to improve human rights in the Muslim world. In a recent article in Newsweek, "A New Policy Towards the Muslim World," Manji advocates engaging the entrepreneurial talents of Muslim women through a microcredit and loan program financed by wealthy Western and Muslim nations. Ultimately, it is a program of grassroots economic development.

She also suggests that the United States should spend less on counterterrorism and rethink the direction of its foreign policy. Manji directs the Moral Courage Project at New York University and is the author of The Trouble With Islam Today.