Transnational Movements and Ideologies - Essay Example

Transnational Movements and Ideologies Islamism has evolved from a traditional theological front to emerge as an important political force among its strongholds. As such, its ideology has become primarily political compelled by a vision of the ideal society and seeking to seize control of their region of control, whole countries, and beyond their borders. Pan-Arabism founded by Michel Aflaq is illustrative of ideologies that seek a unified front against perceived enemies of Arabic countries and became prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. Such movements often advocate for socialist principles while opposing political influences from the West (Price 242). This has created a global concern following the extremism elicited by Islamic radicalisation. Similarly, such advances present numerous challenges within the states affected by the newfound nationalism. This paper seeks to illustrate the threats presented by transnational movements and ideologies to the inter-Arab state system. Civil unrest and internal conflicts threatens the calm in most Arab countries such as Syria, Egypt owing to disunity exerted by the activities of the Islamic movements, each of the Arab nations comprise of different ethnic and cultural values with unique tribal makeup. Each of these tribes has different preferences with regard to governance and community demands. As such, the groups form movements with unique goals and objectives regardless of the ideology adopted. The goals range from demand for various social freedoms such as speech, religion among others to national recognition. Most are the times that the movements are at war with each other following differences that emerge over supremacy (Khouri 47). The major concern lies with the tension created among citizens resulting in clashes within the Arab states. The high levels of polarisation in the countries have seen loss of lives, destruction of property among other social and economic consequences. Civil unrest has been demonstrated in various Arab countries such as Egypt, Libya, Syria following the wide spread Arab uprising that has seen regime changes and loss of life. For instance, Syria is entangled in a civil war from January to April 2012 after mass protests seeking to establish political reforms. The evolution of Islam to a political front has seen growing radicalisation and extremism among the masses calling for reforms. This has been seen as the democratisation of the Arab world, which has deepened erosion of governance triggering the aforementioned Arab uprisings. These creates a concern among Arab states on the role of religion in politics and in an effort to separate the two, rifts emerge among those seeking to maintain the status quo and those seeking reforms. As such, the governance by the elite is threatened by the notion of a harmonious existence of Islam and democracy, which has seen different reactions to the same (Rubin 412). For instance, the government Turkey has been in the forefront to promote tolerance and address socio-economic issues such as unemployment. This is seen as a move to curb the radicalisation of transnational movements and the proliferation of related ideologies in the country. The extent of radicalisation, organisation, and funding of the transnational movements may see calls for independence. This is especially so with political groups that set up military organisation to assert their control over a region. As such, the affected country is faced with calls for cessation and recognition of independence of the region failure to which, rebellion and violence may result. The onset of the 2012 Tuareg Rebellion in Mali sought to emulate the Arab uprising, but resulted in a coup d'etat in March 2012 (BBC). The conflict has seen the rebel group declare independence from Mali and demand recognition in spite of rejection by the African Union and the European Union. This has seen sustained conflicts in the affected countries, and should independence be granted; other movements may emerge to claim authority over different part of the country. The extremism elicited also pose security concerns both at domestic and international levels. Domestically, extremists have demonstrated their commitment to their ideology by eliminating those perceived not share similar sentiments. This serves to disrupt peace and increase tension within the countries with devastating effects to the economy, not to mention the loss of lives. Although some Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia maintain some aspects of sharia laws, most radical movements seek the full enforcement the restrictions to citizens under their jurisdiction resulting in future conflicts. This has served to increase tension causing the citizens to live with uncertainty and fear of future events. Such fears have been expressed beyond the boundaries amid escalating humanitarian crisis and global security concerns. The international community has not been spared the wrath of the transnational movements as they have been linked to terror attack around the world (“Transnational Islamist Movements...” 5). The best highlight of such acts of terror is with the 9/11 attacks in the United States that resulted in thousands of deaths. Consequently, the US responded with the invasion of Iraq in pursuit of groups responsible for the attacks in a campaign dubbed war on terror in 2003. In light of the international concerns, affected countries are faced with an economic crisis attributed to the lack of lack of political stability, which is essential in fostering investments. Internal conflicts leads to destruction of infrastructure and factors of production making the economy stagnate. As such, the price of important commodities goes up owing to the little supply and the enormous demand. Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria among others are known to derive their wealth from oil and the international price per barrel is guided by the political stability of the producing regions. The countries are faced with the risk of economic sabotage should the transnational movements have their way with cessation. In addition, the countries may experience international sanction with regard to trade owing to the activities of radical movements across the boundaries. The force behind ideologies such as the pan-Arabism is based on a common language and religion, which encourages the idea of Arab unity (Lungu and Gokcel 124). However, evident regional disunity results following supremacy wrangles owing to the rich diversity of ideas on implementation of such ideologies. In most cases, this creates regional tension and suspicion due to difference that emerge. This has seen countries isolated from within the regional blocks in line with the ideas they support. This is as evidenced during the Six Day War in June 1967 involving Israel and its neighbours including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan who were in the main proponents of the unification of the region (Smith et al 298).Advances were made to establish a pan-Arab state during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser to counter Zionism in Israel. Israel was viewed as a hindrance to the unification bid through the pan-Arabism ideology precipitating armed conflict at the height of tension. However, the Arab union failed following a decisive defeat by Israel in a six-day armed of conflict. In addition to regional isolation, Arab countries such as Iran are often isolated by the Arab community owing to ideological differences. However, not all economic unification suggestions go down with the international community with the recent example the proposed pan-Arab currency. Uniting countries suggest that the nations should sell oil in the new currency rather than the traditional currency (dollar) introduced following the Nixon Shock. The introduction of the currency has a destabilising effect on the value of the US dollar that will directly affect the economic power. Works Cited Lungu, Eugen and Gokcel, Ragip. Pan-Arabism and The “Arab Spring”: Ambiguity of the Arab UnityIssues. The University of South-East Europe. n.d. Web. 18 April 2013. Khouri, Rami. Transnational Trends: Middle Eastern and Asian Views. The Henry L. Stimson Center. 2008. Web. 18 April 2013. “Transnational Islamist Movements in Asia Networks, Structure and Threat Assessment”. ICPVTR. 2006. Web. 18 April 2013. http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/conference_reports/trans%20Islamist%20Movemt.pdf Rubin, Barry. Guide to Islamist Movements. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2010. Print. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=wEih57-GWQQC&pg=PA318-IA4&dq=Rubin,+Barry.+Guide+to+Islamist+Movements.+New+York:+M.E.+Sharpe&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Bst4UcuHDMGM7QaRsYHAAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=turkey&f=false Price, Daniel. Sacred Terror. California: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=XSvu00ujGfcC&pg=PA242&dq=pan+arabism+and+socialism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cW5vUa2IHMSN7Aac8oG4AQ&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBw - v=onepage&q=pan%20arabism%20and%20socialism&f=false BBC 2012. Mali coup leader Amadou Sanogo 'in complete control'. Web. 17 April 2013. Smith, Steve Hadfield, Amelia and Dunne, Timothy. Foreign Policy: Theories, Actors, Cases, Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=B0RdPe1hHccC&pg=PA298&dq=reasons+for+the+Six+Day+War+involving+Israel+and+its+neighbours&hl=en&sa=X&ei=drdvUYHLEKKu7Aai24GwCg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=reasons%20for%20the%20Six%20Day%20War%20involving%20Israel%20and%20its%20neighbours&f=false Read More