Islam and World Politics - Assignment Example

islam and world politics Many theoretical paradigms have grown out of the Middle East since the 1960s. Accordingly, the 1960s were important because this was a period of widespread social, political, economic, and cultural change in the world. Arab nationalism and Islamism are two political theories which have sought to address the many concerns facing the Arab world. The Islamic faith is a world religion and is also one of the three great monotheistic religions with roots in the Middle East. Arab nationalism is an ideology which espouses secularism, the belief that the Arab people constitute one people, and that secularism in conjunction with socialist policies of economic development will help ensure the sustainability of the Arab people in the 21st century. Seeking to understand the Islamic revival, the following aims to provide a thorough overview of Islam and world politics since late 1960s. This research paper will explore secular Arab nationalism and compare it with the Islamist political movement (Bloom, 2005, 71-78). Secular nationalism Arab nationalism is a pan-Arab ideology which grew out of discontent following the demise of the Ottoman Empire. The new states which were carved out of the former empire were created under the auspices of the Europeans and thus were seen by many Arabs as being illegitimate. Gamel Abd Nasser in Egypt was the first prominent leader of Arab nationalism and he successfully manipulated Arab discontent at the status quo after the creation of the state of Israel. The basic belief behind Arab nationalism is that the Middle East has been artificially and summarily divided and that the Arab peoples of the region constitute one nation. Thus, the eventual goal of Arab nationalism is the creation of one Arab state which will take its place amongst the other nations of the world and promote Arab interests on the global stage. In a modern context, Ba’athism was the last true Arab nationalist ideology and while it remains the political ideology of the governing party in Syria under President Bashar al Asad, Ba’athism was once the party under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Since his death it has almost disappeared from the Iraqi political landscape. In juxtaposition to Islamism, secular Arab nationalism sees a strong central government, socialist economic policies borrow from Marxist-Leninist ideology and Arab unification as he only way in which the Arab world can rise up and overcome the significant challenges that it has faced since the demise of the Ottoman Empire. The colonial experience for much of the Arab world was short but it left a lasting impression on countries of the Middle East. While some countries such as Egypt have a strong tradition which dates back thousands of years, other countries such as Jordan and Iraq were colonial creations. According to secular nationalism, Arab unity is the only way in which present problems such as underdevelopment and economic stagnation can be overcome (Khater, 2004, 44-69; CIA, 2009). What explains the failures of secular nationalism? Secular nationalism seeks Arab unification a variety of realms and during the 1950s and 60s it appeared as though Arab nationalism would succeed as the most important local movements to emanate from the Middle East. Unity in the form of a new Arab state was achieved in February of 1958 when Syria and Egypt joined together to form the United Arab Republic. This union was based upon the principles of secular nationalism and sought to create a powerful Arab country in the Middle East. As opposed to a variety of small states which were competing with one another the purpose of secular nationalism was to create one large Arab country which would exist in harmony and compete with the other nations of the world. Since the serious and Egypt were two of the largest countries of the Middle East it made sense that they would join together to create the United Arab Republic. This union was headed by Nasser and competing interests led to its eventually eventual dissolution. The United Arab Republic lasted until 1961 and the ill-fated attempt at Union unfortunately did not last as long as many wouldve hoped. Future attempts at creating an Arab union were spearheaded by Muammar al-Gaddafi who sought to unite Libya, Egypt and serious in a Federation of Arab Republics. This union lasted for five years and was undermined by the fact that many of the people of the Middle East had developed unique, nationals identities such as being Egyptian, being Syrian or Libyan. From this respect than Arab unity was an ideal which was not necessarily tangible in practice (Gelvin, 205, 111-134; see Huntington, 1996). Today the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PLO, represents one of the most sustained efforts at implanting secular nationalism in the Palestinian territories. Today, the PLO is the largest political movement in Palestine but it has not achieved its goals of a Palestinian state side-by-side with the modern state of Israel. In this respect then the PLO could have been the flag bearer of Arab nationalism and secularism in the 21st century. Due to the multitude of failures associated with Yasser Arafat in the organization that he ran, new organizations have sprouted up throughout the Palestinian territories including Hamas, which remains the most viable contender to the PLO. Accordingly, Hamas now controls the Gaza Strip and remains a potent local force in Palestinian politics. This has undermined the PLO as well as a secular nationalist doctrine that preaches. Turning to Islamism now what does Islamism say about the challenges facing the countries of the Middle East? (Khater, 2004, 98-121). Islamism Islamism is a political ideology which believes that Islam is a guiding force in this world and it is impossible to remove the Islamic faith from politics. The Muslim religion began in the Middle East at about 600 A.D. during the time of the Prophet Mohammed. Islam sought to address the particular concerns of the people of the Middle East during the seventh century A.D. and represented an evolution from Judaism and Christianity, two dominant religions in the region. Today, Islam is a world religion and has more than 1 billion followers through the world. Accordingly, there are two main branches of Islam, the Sunni and Shi’a sects, and the divisions between these two sects go back centuries. The Sunni sect of Islam remains the most important within the faith, while the Shi’a account for approximately 15 to 20% of the worldwide Muslim population. This minority is dominant in Iran as well as throughout some regions of the Gulf but the Sunni branch remains the most dominant throughout the world. Accordingly, the ideology of Islamism stresses Islamic teachings as a guiding political force with ramifications in a variety of realms. From this perspective then, Islamism has come into conflict with secular ideologies such as liberal democracy, communism, socialism, and secular nationalism in a modern context. Looking at the Middle East, Islamism has come to violent conflict with regimes in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and most recently, in the Palestinian territories managed by the Palestinian Authority. Additionally Islamism has been tied to extreme violence and terrorism and is seen by many rulers in the Middle East as an important threat to Middle Eastern geopolitical stability. The present party in power in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, is a self-identified Islamic organization which actively engages in jihad. What explains the Islamic resurgence in the past 60 years? The Muslim resurgence in the past 60 years has been caused by many factors not the least of which is the persistent underdevelopment of the Middle East, a legacy of strong and authoritarian rulers in the region, and rising expectations in a globalized world. The West has had many challenges with Islamic fundamentalism, and many Westerners have little understanding of the Islamic faith. Post 9/11, that has changed and people are starting to take more notice of the Islamic faith as well as the grievances of the Islamic people. Accordingly for Islamists, Islam provides justification for terror and terrorist activities and many use the Koran to justify their acts of violence. Some of the most infamous Islamist organizations include Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas and numerous other global networks which use violence as a political tool and seek change through violence. They have popularized the term jihad and corrupted a term which is nearly 1,500 years old. While secular nationalist organizations see Arab unity and socialist goals of development as the cure for the underdog to the region, Islamists argue that Islam is a guiding force in all realms, social, political and economic and that Islam can provide the answers to all of ones problems. While each ideology is important it is obvious that Arab nationalism has lost many followers, and Islamism seems to have gained increased force in the post-Cold War world. Since the 1960s Islamic revivalism has progressively come to dominate religious and legal discourse in the Muslim world. Secular nationalism, on the other hand, has declined (Khater, 2004, 98-121). 9/11 and Islamic revival The horrendous attacks on September 11, 2001 forever changed the world. The second attacks on the World Trade Center in Manhattan represented the most sustained assault of Islamic terrorist violence ever against United States of America. The event that fateful morning has renewed global interest in Islamic terrorism, Islamism as a political movement and the use of terror as a political tool by Muslims. Scholars also sought to understand the Islamic faith and explain the revival of religion in general but to also explore the return to Islamic orthodoxy within the Muslim faith. While it had appeared previously that secularization would be a feature of the Middle East and universalized, it appears as though the secularization of the world is a uniquely Western experience and has not blossomed in the Arab or Islamic context. What are the challenges posed to the world in the face of a resurgence of violent Islam? What role does violence play the Islamic faith? (see Wolfsfeld, 1999) According to American scholar Steve Runciman, “unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with a sword” (2009). For many, Islamic violence poses a challenge both to the Arab countries of the Middle East as well as to the established democracies of the Western world. According to Olivier Roy in his 2007 Columbia University Press book, Secularism Confronts Islam, There is one concern absolutely common to all Western countries threatened by radical Islam, and it is the main concern. That concern is violence committed in the name of Islam and committed on a mass scale. That concern is an ideology whose express aim is to destroy Western civilization in an age of asymmetrical warfare. (...) This is the issue around which this debate truly revolves -- not hallal meat, not arranged marriage, not even the veil. The West, I expect, could make its peace with all of those practices. But it cannot make peace, quite literally, with those who would make war against it." (Roy, 2007). Furthermore, adherents of Islamism are not constrained by geographic boundaries and can strike at targets for the world. The attacks of 9/11 as well as bombings in Bali, and the multitude of suicide attacks in Israel demonstrate this. Al Qaeda is seen by many as the head of the Islamist resurgence and the Al Qaeda network has been responsible for numerous attacks beginning with the Cole bombing in Yemen in 1992, the spectacular attacks of 9/11 and the current Iraqi insurgency. The Al Qaeda network is supposedly global and its jihadists represent a threat to peace and security throughout the world. Al Qaeda advocates Islamism as a driving force for the local programs and argues that represents a pure form of Islam. Al Qaeda demands the return of the Islamic caliphate and seeks to annihilate the global infidel community. One can ask whether Al Qaeda is a perversion of the Islamic faith or not but it is certain that the Islamic faith is used by this organization as a justification for the violence that employs (Bloom, 2005, 3-13). Concluding Remarks For many people around the world, Islam is seen as a violent faith advocates terrorism. The rise of Islamism has done nothing to dissuade this belief and the fact that many terrorists cite the Koran while committing acts of violence has done much to harm the perceptions of the Islamic faith within the Western world. People who advocate for the Islamic faith argue that it is inherently a peaceful religion which promotes peace and the coexistence of different people together within one global community. From this perspective hen Islam has been manipulated for political purposes and groups such as how Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah and a whole other host of Islamist organizations have used Islam to justify their violence. This misappropriation and corruption by Islamic terrorists does not represent the true Islamic faith, according to its proponents. Whether Islamism represents true Islam or whether it is a misappropriation of the faith is debatable. The fact remains that Islamism has successfully overtaken secular nationalism as the dominant political ideology to grow out of the Middle East. Secular nationalism was best articulated by Nasser and the ill-fated unions of Syria, Egypt and later Libya but the secular nationalist doctrine has not resonated with the Arab Muslim people of the Middle East. Islamism is an all encompassing ideology which has effectively appealed to disaffected masses throughout the region. Islamic teachings remain important to Arab peoples from Iraq to Saudi Arabia and from Jordan to Morocco. As a result Islamism has successfully been able to appeal to the gut instincts of Muslims throughout the Middle East and this is something that has not been successful for secular nationalism. References Bloom, M. 2005. Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror. Columbia University Press: New York. Central Intelligence Agency. 2009. Iraq. Retrieved October 15, 2009, from The World Fact Book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/is.html Gelvin, J.L. 2005. The Modern Middle East: A history. Oxford University Press: New York. Hoekman, B.M. & Zarrouk, J. 2002. Catching Up with the Competition: Trade Opportunities and Challenges for Arab Countries. Published by University of Michigan Press: Detroit. Huntington, S.P. 1996. The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order. Simon & Schuster: New York. Khater, A.F. (Ed.) 2004. Sources in the history of the modern middle east. Houghton-Mifflin: New York. Steven Runciman Quote. 2009. ThinkExist.com. Retrieved November 06, 2009 from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/steven_runciman Roy. O. 2007. Secularism Confronts Islam. New York: Columbia University Press. Wilson, B. 1966. Religion in secular society: London: Watts. Wolfsfeld, G. 1997. Media and Political Conflict: News from the Middle East. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Read More