Saudi Arabia has a unique approach of vacillating between using hard and soft power. This approach is directly linked to Saudi Arabia being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the home of the Islamic religion, and possessing vast oil reserves.

A global survey by Pew in October last year, found that 32% of people in France felt that religious hatred posed the greatest threat to the world - tied with inequality as the issue of upmost concern.

According to Hamid, even the most “moderate” Islamists “want the state to promote a basic set of religious and moral values through the soft power of the state machinery, the educational system and the media.”

Although Mexico and India were on opposite sides of the globe, the brown, spicy, aromatic curries that he was offered in India sparked memories of Mexico’s national dish, mole (pronounced MO-lay). Is mole, he wondered, “an ingenious Mexican version of curry, or is curry a Hindu adaptation of a Mexican sauce?”

On a train, one passenger reportedly spotted a Muslim woman removing her hijab, ostensibly out of fear of being targeted. The passenger told her to put it back on and offered to walk with her in solidarity. And so began #IllRideWithYou. The hashtag went viral and is currently still trending worldwide, hours after the end of the hostage crisis.

This past summer, I was appointed Special Representative to Muslim Communities at the State Department. As Special Representative, I am charged with driving Secretary Kerry’s engagement with Muslim communities around the world on issues of mutual interest and in support of shared goals.