The Rise of Islamic Capitalism - Book Report/Review Example

The Rise of Islamic Capitalism The book ed by Vali Nasr, an expert in the Islamic nations’ operations and a top advisor to the United States (US) government, provides a proposal for the solution to challenges in handling Islamic extremism. He proposes that the best way for the Western countries to end the deeply rooted Islamic extremism is by facilitating the development and progress of the Muslim middle class in those regions. The prosperity of the middle class in the Muslim world is essential in the transformation of the political and religious values of the people. Vali provides support to this proposal by emphasizing on the crucial role of the middle class in the democratic and capitalist revolution in Western countries. The author blames extremism on economic flops from authoritarian Islamic regimes but sees the Muslim bourgeoisie’s wealth and ambitions as critical in the fight against Muslim extremism. The contributions of this class of Muslims to the transformation of Dubai and Turkey are instrumental and provide insight for possible spread of the influence to other Islamic nations. This review will keenly analyze the various issues this book raises and explore evidences from the book to support the issues raised. Vali makes it clear that the US’s main goal is to end extremism in the Islamic world, particularly in the Middle Eastern countries (Nasr 1-2; 84). The Iranian revolution that occurred in the year 1979 was the main motivation for this pursuit by the US. The book presents the reality of the Islamic world to the Western nations so that they can deduce the cause of Islamic extremism (Nasr 10). The inadequate integration of the Middle East region into the global economy has adverse implications on other regions of the world. This inadequate integration makes the region contribute immensely to the promotion of instability in global and regional politics (Nasr 168; 262). Secularism in the Middle East has had many flaws, which have contributed to the growth of fundamentalism in Muslim nations (Nasr 11; 84-85). The author makes it succinct that this secularism has facilitated the sustainability of Muslim extremism and affected the way of life of the people in the Middle East (Nasr 142-143; 152-156; 173; 255). The author highlights the critical contributions of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to the development of modern Turkey. Mustafa strongly inclined to westernizing his nation for it to meet and surpass the success of western nations in the 1920s and early 1930s (Nasr 95-97). Iran and other countries in the Middle East also pursued westernization although they faced challenges that came with the First World War (Nasr 95-97; 106). In what Vali refers to as Kemalism, the modernization of the nations by command faced several setbacks although there was an outstanding initial success. Kemalism resulted in patronage nations, inadequate management and increased corruption as opposed to healthy entrepreneurial economies (Nasr 8-9; 65-69). This modernization facilitated the absence of a bourgeoisie of business people and professionals who had economic independence (Nasr 67-69; 72-75). The other crucial influence of Kemalism was the suppression of the Islamic religion and its increasing hatred (Nasr 85; 94; 113-114; 129; 129-171; 219). The author makes an observation of the possible influence of Kemalism in the modern day challenges of the introduction of capitalism and promotion of liberalization in the Middle East (Nasr 94; 114; 167). He considers the US as a contributor to the resentment of the way of life of the Islamic nations. The US has provided support to the dictatorial and often corrupted leadership that had clear evidence of incompetence, for example, the leadership of President Pervez (Nasr 86; 205-207; 256). The book outlines the possible interpretation of the West and the US on the resentment, as the product of subscription to an inflexible religion as opposed to the failures associated with secularism (Nasr 86; 110). The right type of economy is essential for the achievement of the desired political state of the Muslim nations (Nasr 26; 109; 259). There seems to be a tendency among Western countries to forget that commerce and trade were at the forefront in the process of facilitating industrial revolution and not reforms. Commerce brought some social changes that fueled the middle class to push for the democratization of Western countries (Nasr 24; 185-186). This perspective makes the middle class a critical group in the creation of pressure for change. The middle class provides an important resource for reforms just like dialogue and pressure from the international community (Nasr 22-23; 223). As a measure to promote reforms in the Middle East, Vali proposes that the West and the US should bet on the drive for profits as an incentive to facilitate change by the middle class. He intimates that the incentives to the middle class will encourage the pressure from this section of the populace for the region to pursue economic integration on a global scale. This economic integration will result in better relationships with Western countries (Nasr 227-228). Vali takes note that the method of reforms in Dubai may not be replicable in the other vast nations of the Middle East (Nasr 30; 40-45). Turkey provides a good lesson on the progress towards reforms in politics and the growth in capitalism under the AKP party that has led the country for the recent decade. Turkey grew and reformed without the authoritarian leadership and revenue from oil (Nasr 114; 231; 243-244). The reforms towards free-markets and increased affiliation to the European Union is responsible for the creation of opportunities for the middle class to explore the region and utilize their entrepreneurial skills (Nasr 182; 253). The rising influence from the middle class community is a threat to the Kemalist establishment of secularism in Turkey (Nasr 145-146; 247-249). The author makes a unique comparison between the “Islamic Calvinists” and the reserved Republicans of the US or the reserved Christian Democrats of the West (Nasr 236; 241-242). These Muslims consider Islam to be a culture and not the subject of political quests (Nasr 246). The expectations of the West to push for the Islamic world to embrace the Western culture and shun their established values may result in an adverse cultural war (Nasr 261). The rising bourgeoisie in the Middle East is likely to be Islamic and reserved in the short term (Nasr 144; 199; 248). The US is aware of the reality that the fundamental change takes a considerable length of time as shown by its encounter in civil rights movements (Nasr 253). The book emphasizes on the undermining nature of the sanctions against countries like Iran. These isolations go against the social class’s interests that focus on promoting a shift from authoritarian leadership to capitalism (Nasr 45-49; 63-66; 255). The author proposes that Iran and the entire Middle East head towards the same direction (Nasr 262). In conclusion, Vali has made a significant contribution in stressing the unique blend between Islamic culture and the desire for economic prosperity in the Islamic countries (Nasr 24; 237). This understanding is essential for both the US and the countries in the Middle East to overcome the populist clash of cultures. This mutual understanding is important for Middle East nations to nurture reforms and realize significant growth in international relations (Nasr 27) Reference Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza. The Rise Of Islamic Capitalism. New York: Free Press, 2010. Print. Read More