With the major parties unwilling to defend the national interest and stand up against radical Islam, that role has fallen to fringe parties on the far right wing of the political spectrum. A number of parties have gained greatly from this. Some, such as Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and Partij voor de Vrijheid (Denmark), are guilty of nothing other than poor PR efforts. But many of the parties making gains, such as the British National Party (UK) and the National Front (France) are populist hate machines who, in between their occasionally legitimate complaints about the EU, spew some of the most racist bile in the Western world. This was illustrated quite recently when Austria held elections on September 28 for the National Council. Together, Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs and the Bündnis Zukunft Österreich earned almost a third of the vote. Both of these parties are of the racist variety, BZO especially.

In recent days, this has again made headlines because BZO leader Jörg Haider died in a car accident this past Saturday. His party is, not surprisingly, in great distress since he was the most iconic bigot in European politics, and helped make extremism socially acceptable in Austria. Of course, for that very same reason, there aren’t many people elsewhere shedding tears over it. What matters is not so much the exact policy goals of his now mainstream racist party, but what allowed it to gain so much ground. And that is the unwillingness of the mainstream to take up the great issue of our lifetime: violent political Islam.

While our two-party system will prevent against a hardline xenophobic party from gaining serious political clout, both of the main parties in our nation have generally been ignoring the underlying issue. There are, of course, a few vigilant individuals, such as Senator McConnell and Senator Brownback, who deserve praise for their strong and factually-supported positions. But sadly, senators like them are too few and far between. To make sure that this grave international security issue is not highjacked by bigots, but is instead part of the standard political discourse of the mainstream, greater awareness must be raised.

The speech is part of a larger, national event called Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness about the problems extremist groups pose to the global community, and will be hosted by the Conservative Leadership Association (CLA).

Pipes’ appearance is being funded by the David Horowitz Freedom Center and the Leadership Institute, two conservative, nonpartisan associations. The CLA did not seek Student Union (SU) funding for the event because the group does not have an official SU budget.

“There is still a threat from radical Islam,” senior Charis Fischer, president of the College Republicans, said. “The fact that this issue is being brought up at all is beneficial for campus.”

Pipes will address the influence of radical Muslim groups and their effect within Western and Islamic society in a speech entitiled “Vanquishing the Islamist Enemy & Helping the Moderate Muslim Ally.”

Pipes has previously taught at Harvard University and was nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Institution of Peace, receiving the position by recess appointment.

“If you are going to be talking about a touchy subject, it is good to bring in an expert,” sophomore Caleb Posner, the CLA events manager, said. “[Pipes] has much experience on the topic of extremist groups, having written several books and articles on the issue.”

The CLA will also be providing free copies of the video “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West,” which draws comparisons between contemporary radical Islamists and the Nazi Party, at the event.

Pipes has incited controversy in the past with his conservative outlook on international conflicts, especially those involving radical Islam. However, Posner defended Pipes against claims of bigotry and hatred.

“Issues that are not politically correct don’t get much attention, and those of different views—at times—just don’t look at what Dr. Pipes is saying with an open mind,” he said.

The Washington University Peace Coalition (WUPC), however, which demonstrated against the Iraq war last year, plans to protest Pipes’ visit to campus as well.

“Dr. Pipes’ rhetoric expands far beyond the scope of extreme Islam, taking on a guilty until proven innocent view of people who follow Islam,” Adam Shriver, graduate student and WUPC founder, said.

WUPC plans to expose Pipes’ “fear tactics to promote his right-wing agenda.”

The demonstration will be co-sponsored by other University student groups, such as the College Democrats, Amnesty International, Pride Alliance and Students for a Democratic Society. These groups will not only be present at the speech to stage a protest, but will also offer an academic response panel to Pipes’ speech, on Oct. 29.

Professor Fatemeh Keshavarz, chair of the Asian and Near Eastern Studies department, has organized the academic panel. Keshavarz has intensively covered Middle Eastern studies and Western responses to Islam, including the video “Obsession.”

“The video has many factual errors,” Keshavarz said. “It is made up of scary scenes of war and hate rallies which don’t make a documentary.”

A number of students, both Muslim and not, who oppose Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, hope that Pipes will have a low impact on campus, but feel that they are relatively free from discrimination against their creed or religion.

“I have never felt adversity directed toward me because of my religion,” freshman Ali Hong, a Muslim, said.

Sophomore Arvind Miriyala expressed similar feelings about the student body’s perceptions.

“Even without [Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week], I don’t think that I’ve ever experienced any discrimination on campus,” Miriyala said.

The Muslim Students Association and College Democrats could not be reached for comment.

Posner said that Pipes can still aid campus discourse by bolstering support for moderate Muslims and reminding the student body of the grave danger Islamic radicalism presents.

“His speech will hopefully deal with this campus’ apathy toward the subject,” he said. “There will hopefully be a broad audience which will come with an open mind, whether or not they agree with everything he has to say.”