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Political Islam in the Middle East

Са Кнудсен

This report provides an introduction to selected aspects of the phenomenon commonly

referred to as “political Islam”. The report gives special emphasis to the Middle East, в

particular the Levantine countries, and outlines two aspects of the Islamist movement that may

be considered polar opposites: democracy and political violence. В третия раздел отчетът

прави преглед на някои от основните теории, използвани за обяснение на ислямското възраждане в Близкия изток

(Фигура 1). Накратко, докладът показва, че ислямът не трябва да е несъвместим с демокрацията и

че има тенденция да се пренебрегва фактът, че много страни от Близкия изток са били

участва в бруталното потушаване на ислямистките движения, причинявайки ги, някои спорят, да поема

оръжие срещу държавата, и по-рядко, чужди държави. Използването на политическо насилие е

широко разпространен в Близкия изток, но не е нито нелогично, нито ирационално. В много случаи дори

Ислямистките групи, известни с използването на насилие, се трансформираха в мирни политически

партии, успешно участващи в общински и национални избори. въпреки това, ислямистът

съживление в Близкия изток остава отчасти необяснено въпреки редица теории, които се стремят към това

обясняват неговия растеж и популярност. Общо взето, повечето теории твърдят, че ислямизмът е a

реакция на относителна депривация, особено социалното неравенство и политическото потисничество. алтернатива

теориите търсят отговора на ислямисткото възраждане в границите на самата религия и на

мощен, емоционален потенциал на религиозния символизъм.

Заключението е в полза на преминаването отвъд подхода „мрак и гибел“.

представя ислямизма като нелегитимен политически израз и потенциална заплаха за Запада ("Стар

ислямизъм”), и на по-нюансирано разбиране на текущата демократизация на ислямизма

движение, което сега се провежда в целия Близък изток ("Нов ислямизъм"). This

importance of understanding the ideological roots of the “New Islamism” is foregrounded

along with the need for thorough first-hand knowledge of Islamist movements and their

adherents. As social movements, its is argued that more emphasis needs to be placed on

understanding the ways in which they have been capable of harnessing the aspirations not only

of the poorer sections of society but also of the middle class.

Islamist Parties : why they can’t be democratic

Bassam Tibi

Noting Islamism’s growing appeal and strength on the ground, many

Western scholars and officials have been grasping for some way to take

an inclusionary approach toward it. In keeping with this desire, it has

become fashionable contemptuously to dismiss the idea of insisting on

clear and rigorous distinctions as “academic.” When it comes to Islam

and democracy, this deplorable fashion has been fraught with unfortunate

consequences.

Intelligent discussion of Islamism, демокрация, and Islam requires

clear and accurate definitions. Without them, analysis will collapse into

confusion and policy making will suffer. My own view, formed after

thirty years of study and reflection regarding the matter, is that Islam and

democracy are indeed compatible, provided that certain necessary religious

reforms are made. The propensity to deliver on such reforms is what

I see as lacking in political Islam. My own avowed interest—as an Arab-

Muslim prodemocracy theorist and practitioner—is to promote the establishment

of secular democracy within the ambit of Islamic civilization.

In order to help clear away the confusion that all too often surrounds

this topic, I will lay out several basic points to bear in mind. The first is

that, so far, Western practices vis-`a-vis political Islam have been faulty

because they have lacked the underpinning of a well-founded assessment.

Unless blind luck intervenes, no policy can be better than the assessment

upon which it is based. Proper assessment is the beginning of

all practical wisdom.

СТРАТЕГИИ ЗА АНГАЖИРАНЕ НА ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЯ ИСЛЯМ

ШАДИ ХАМИД

АМАНДА КАДЛЕЦ

Политическият ислям е единствената най-активна политическа сила в Близкия изток днес. Неговото бъдеще е тясно свързано с това на региона. Ако Съединените щати и Европейският съюз се ангажират да подкрепят политическата реформа в региона, те ще трябва да измислят бетон, съгласувани стратегии за ангажиране на ислямистки групи. Още, Съединените Щати. като цяло не желаеше да започне диалог с тези движения. по същия начин, Ангажирането на ЕС с ислямистите е изключение, не е правилото. Където има контакти на ниско ниво, те служат главно за целите на събиране на информация, не стратегически цели. Съединените Щати. и ЕС имат редица програми, насочени към икономическото и политическо развитие в региона – сред които Инициативата за близкоизточно партньорство (МЕПИ), корпорация Millennium Challenge (МКЦ), съюза за Средиземноморието, и европейската политика за съседство (ENP) – но те нямат какво да кажат за това как предизвикателството на ислямистката политическа опозиция се вписва в по-широките регионални цели. нас. и помощта и програмирането на ЕС за демокрация са насочени почти изцяло или към самите авторитарни правителства, или към светски групи на гражданското общество с минимална подкрепа в техните собствени общества.
Времето е назряло за преоценка на настоящите политики. След терористичните атаки през септември 11, 2001, подкрепата на демокрацията в Близкия изток придоби по-голямо значение за западните политици, които виждат връзка между липсата на демокрация и политическото насилие. По-голямо внимание е отделено на разбирането на различията в политическия ислям. Новата американска администрация е по-отворена към разширяване на комуникацията с мюсюлманския свят. Междувременно, огромното мнозинство от основните ислямистки организации – включително Мюсюлманското братство в Египет, Йорданският фронт за ислямско действие (IAF), Мароканска партия на справедливостта и развитието (PJD), ислямското конституционно движение на Кувейт, и Йеменската партия Ислах – все повече превръщат подкрепата за политическата реформа и демокрацията в централен компонент в своите политически платформи. В допълнение, мнозина са сигнализирали за силен интерес към започване на диалог със САЩ. и правителствата на ЕС.
Бъдещето на отношенията между западните нации и Близкия изток може до голяма степен да се определи от степента, в която първите ангажират ненасилствените ислямистки партии в широк диалог относно споделени интереси и цели. Напоследък се появиха множество проучвания за ангажираност с ислямисти, но малцина ясно описват какво може да доведе до това на практика. Като Zoe Nautre, гостуващ сътрудник в Германския съвет за външни отношения, го поставя, „ЕС обмисля ангажиране, но всъщност не знае как.“1 С надеждата да изясни дискусията, различаваме три нива на „ангажираност,” всяка с различни средства и цели: контакти на ниско ниво, стратегически диалог, и партньорство.

Islamist parties : Three kinds of movements

Тамара Кофман

Между 1991 и 2001, the world of political Islam became significantly more diverse. Today, the term “Islamist”—used to describe a political perspective centrally informed by a set of religious interpretations and commitments—can be applied to such a wide array of groups as to be almost meaningless. It encompasses everyone from the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center to peacefully elected legislators in Kuwait who have voted in favor of women’s suffrage.
въпреки това, the prominence of Islamist movements—legal and illegal, violent and peaceful—in the ranks of political oppositions across the Arab world makes the necessity of drawing relevant distinctions obvious. The religious discourse of the Islamists is now unavoidably central to Arab politics. Conventional policy discussions label Islamists either “moderate” or “radical,” generally categorizing them according to two rather loose and unhelpful criteria. The first is violence: Radicals use it and moderates do not. This begs the question of how to classify groups that do not themselves engage in violence but who condone, justify, or even actively support the violence of others. A second, only somewhat more restrictive criterion is whether the groups or individuals in question
accept the rules of the democratic electoral game. Popular sovereignty is no small concession for traditional Islamists, many of whom reject democratically elected governments as usurpers of God’s sovereignty.
Yet commitment to the procedural rules of democratic elections is not the same as commitment to democratic politics or governance.

Islamist Parties : A boon or a bane for democracy?

Амр Хамзави

Нейтън Дж. Кафяво

What role do Islamist movements play in Arab politics? With their popular messages and broad followings within Arab societies, would their incorporation as normal political actors be a boon for democratization or democracy’s bane? For too long, we have tried to answer such questions solely by speculating about the true intentions of these movements and their leaders. Islamist political movements in the Arab world are increasingly asked—both by outside observers and by members of their own societies—about their true intentions.
But to hear them tell it, leaders of mainstream Arab Islamist movements are not the problem. They see themselves as democrats in nondemocratic lands, firmly committed to clean and fair electoral processes, whatever outcomes these may bring. It is rulers and regimes that should be pressed to commit to democracy, say the Islamists, not their oppositions. We need not take such Islamist leaders at their word. Наистина, we should realize that there is only so much that any of their words can do to answer the question of the relationship between these movements and the prospects for democracy.
While their words are increasingly numerous (Islamist movements tend to be quite loquacious) and their answers about democracy increasingly specific, their ability to resolve all ambiguities is limited. First, as long as they are out of power—as most of them are, and are likely to remain for some time—they will never fully prove themselves. Many Islamist leaders themselves probably do not know how they would act were they to come to power.

Political Islam: Ready for Engagement?

Емад ел-дин шахин

The voluminous literature on reform and democratization in the Middle East region reveals a number of facts: a main obstacle to reform is the incumbent regimes that have been trying to resist and circumvent genuine democratic transformations; political reform cannot be credible without integrating moderate Islamists in the process; and external actors (mainly the US and the EU) have not yet formulated a coherent approach to reform that could simultaneously achieve stability and democracy in the region. This paper explores the possibilities and implications of a European engagement with moderate Islamists on democracy promotion in the region. It argues that the EU approach to political reform in the Middle East region needs to be enhanced and linked to realities on the ground. Political reform cannot be effective without the integration of non-violent Islamic groups in a gradual, multifaceted process. It should be highlighted that the process of engagement is a risky one for both the EU and the Islamists, yet both stand to gain from a systematic dialogue on democracy. To reduce the risks, the engagement with political Islam should come within a broader EU strategy for democracy promotion in the region. In fact, what the Islamists would expect from Europe is to maintain a
consistent and assertive stand on political reforms that would allow for a genuine representation of the popular will through peaceful means.
In this regard, a number of questions seem pertinent. Does the EU really need to engage political Islam in democratic reforms? Is political Islam ready for engagement and will it be willing to engage? How can an engagement policy be formulated on the basis of plausible implementation with minimal risks to the interests of the parties involved?

ИСЛЯМСТКИТЕ ДВИЖЕНИЯ И ДЕМОКРАТИЧНИЯТ ПРОЦЕС В АРАБСКИЯ СВЯТ: Изследване на сивите зони

Нейтън Дж. Кафяво, Амр Хамзави,

Марина Отауей

През последното десетилетие, Ислямистките движения се утвърдиха като основни политически играчи в Близкия изток. Заедно с правителствата, ислямистки движения, умерени, както и радикални, ще определи как ще се развие политиката в региона в обозримо бъдеще. Th ey have shown the ability not only to craft messages with widespread popular appeal but also, and most importantly, to create organizations with genuine social bases and develop coherent political strategies. Other parties,
by and large, have failed on all accounts.
Th e public in the West and, in particular, the United States, has only become aware of the importance of Islamist movements after dramatic events, such as the revolution in Iran and the assassination of President Anwar al-Sadat in Egypt. Attention has been far more sustained since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As a result, Islamist movements are widely regarded as dangerous and hostile. Докато подобна характеристика е точна по отношение на организациите в радикалния край на ислямисткия спектър, които са опасни поради готовността си да прибягват до безразборно насилие при преследване на целите си, това не е точна характеристика на много групи, които са се отказали или са избегнали насилието. Тъй като терористичните организации представляват незабавна
заплаха, въпреки това, политиците във всички страни са обърнали непропорционално внимание на насилствените организации.
Това е основната ислямистка организация, не радикалните, които ще имат най-голямо въздействие върху бъдещата политическа еволюция на Близкия изток. Грандиозните цели на радикалите да възстановят халифат, обединяващ целия арабски свят, или дори на налагане на отделни арабски страни закони и социални обичаи, вдъхновени от фундаменталисткото тълкуване на исляма, са просто твърде далеч от днешната реалност, за да бъдат реализирани. Това не означава, че терористичните групи не са опасни - те могат да причинят големи загуби на живот дори в преследването на невъзможни цели - но че е малко вероятно те да променят лицето на Близкия изток. Основните ислямистки организации обикновено са различен въпрос. Те вече са имали силно въздействие върху социалните обичаи в много страни, спиране и обръщане на светските тенденции и промяна на начина, по който много араби се обличат и държат. И тяхната непосредствена политическа цел, да се превърнат в могъща сила, като участват в нормалната политика на своята страна, не е невъзможно. It is already being realized in countries such as Morocco, Йордания, and even Egypt, which still bans all Islamist political organizations but now has eighty-eight Muslim Brothers in the Parliament. Политика, not violence, is what gives mainstream Islamists their infl uence.

ИСЛЯМ, ISLAMISTS, AND THE ELECTORAL PRINCIPLE I N THE MIDDLE EAST

Джеймс Пискатори

For an idea whose time has supposedly come, ÒdemocracyÓ masks an astonishing

number of unanswered questions and, in the Muslim world, has generated

a remarkable amount of heat. Is it a culturally specific term, reflecting Western

European experiences over several centuries? Притежават ли незападните общества

техните собствени стандарти за участие и отчетност – и наистина техните собствени

ритми на развитие, които привличат вниманието, ако не уважение? Има ли ислям,

с неговия акцент върху авторитета на писанията и централното място на свещения закон, позволява

за гъвкава политика и управление на участието?

Отговорите на тези въпроси са част от разказ и контраразказ

които сами по себе си са неразделна част от оспорван дискурс. По-голямата история

се интересува дали „ислямът“ представлява заплаха за Запада, и допълващото

историята включва съвместимостта на исляма с демокрацията. Интелектуалецът

багаж, за промяна на метафората, едва ли е неутрален. Самата дискусия има

се политизират остро, уловен в свързаните с това противоречия относно ориентализма,

the exceptionalism of the Middle East in particular and the Muslim world in general,

and the modernism of religious ÒfundamentalistÓ movements.

Islamist Parties , ARE THEY DEMOCRATS? DOES it matter ?

Тарек Масуд

Driven by a sense that “the Islamists are coming,” journalists and policy makers have been engaged of late in fevered speculation over whether Islamist parties such as Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB) or Palestine’s Hamas really believe in democracy. While I attempt to outline the boundaries of the Islamist democratic commitment, I think that peering into the Islamist soul is a misuse of energies. The Islamists are not coming. освен това, as Adam Przeworski and others have argued, commitments to democracy are more often born of environmental constraints than of true belief. Instead of worrying whether Islamists are real democrats,
our goal should be to help fortify democratic and liberal institutions and actors so that no group—Islamist or otherwise—can subvert them.
But what is this movement over whose democratic bona fides we worry? Ислямизмът е хлъзгаво понятие. Например, ако обозначим като ислямистки онези партии, които призовават за прилагане на шериата, трябва да изключим турската Партия на справедливостта и развитието (който е широко смятан за ислямистки) и включват управляващата Национална демократическа партия на Египет (която активно репресира ислямистите). Вместо да затъвате в проблеми с дефинициите, би било по-добре да се съсредоточим върху набор от политически партии, които са израснали от едни и същи исторически корени, извличат много от своите цели и позиции от едно и също тяло от идеи, и поддържат организационни връзки помежду си – т.е, онези партии, които извират от международния MB. Те включват египетската организация майка (основан през 1928), но и Хамас, Йорданският фронт за ислямско действие, Движението на Алжир за мирно общество, иракската ислямска партия, Lebanon’s Islamic Group, and others.

ISLAMIC RULINGS ON WARFARE

Юсеф Н. Абул-Енейн
Шерифа зухур

The United States no doubt will be involved in the Middle East for many decades. To be sure, settling the Israeli–Palestinian dispute or alleviating poverty could help to stem the tides of Islamic radicalism and anti-American sentiment. But on an ideological level, we must confront a specific interpretation of Islamic law, history,and scripture that is a danger to both the United States and its allies. To win that ideological war, we must understand the sources of both Islamic radicalism and liberalism. We need to comprehend more thoroughly the ways in which militants misinterpret and pervert Islamic scripture. Al-Qaeda has produced its own group of spokespersons who attempt to provide religious legitimacy to the nihilism they preach. Many frequently quote from the Quran and hadith (the Prophet Muhammad’s sayings and deeds) in a biased manner to draw justification for their cause. Lieutenant Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein and Dr. Sherifa Zuhur delve into the Quran and hadith to articulate a means by which Islamic militancy can be countered ideologically, drawing many of their insights from these and other classical Islamic texts. In so doing, they expose contradictions and alternative approaches in the core principles that groups like al-Qaeda espouse. The authors have found that proper use of Islamic scripture actually discredits the tactics of al-Qaeda and other jihadist organizations. This monograph provides a basis for encouraging our Muslim allies to challenge the theology supported by Islamic militants. Seeds of doubt planted in the minds of suicide bombers might dissuade them from carrying out their missions. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this study of Islamic rulings on warfare to the national defense community as an effort to contribute to the ongoing debate over how to defeat Islamic militancy.

Islam and the West

Preface

Джон Дж. ДеДжоя

The remarkable feeling of proximity between people and nations is the unmistakable reality of our globalized world. Encounters with other peoples’ ways oflife, current affairs, politics, welfare and faithsare more frequent than ever. We are not onlyable to see other cultures more clearly, butalso to see our differences more sharply. The information intensity of modern life has madethis diversity of nations part of our every dayconsciousness and has led to the centrality ofculture in discerning our individual and collectiveviews of the world.Our challenges have also become global.The destinies of nations have become deeply interconnected. No matter where in the world we live, we are touched by the successes and failures of today’s global order. Yet our responses to global problems remain vastly different, not only as a result of rivalry and competing interests,but largely because our cultural difference is the lens through which we see these global challenges.Cultural diversity is not necessarily a source of clashes and conflict. In fact, the proximity and cross-cultural encounters very often bring about creative change – a change that is made possible by well-organized social collaboration.Collaboration across borders is growing primarily in the area of business and economic activity. Collaborative networks for innovation,production and distribution are emerging as the single most powerful shaper of the global economy.

why are there no arab democracies ?

Лари Даймънд

During democratization’s “third wave,” democracy ceased being a mostly Western phenomenon and “went global.” When the third wave began in 1974, the world had only about 40 democracies, and only a few of them lay outside the West. By the time the Journal of Democracy began publishing in 1990, there were 76 electoral democracies (accounting for slightly less than half the world’s independent states). от 1995, that number had shot up to 117—three in every five states. By then, a critical mass of democracies existed in every major world region save one—the Middle East.1 Moreover, every one of the world’s major cultural realms had become host to a significant democratic presence, albeit again with a single exception—the Arab world.2 Fifteen years later, this exception still stands.
The continuing absence of even a single democratic regime in the Arab world is a striking anomaly—the principal exception to the globalization of democracy. Why is there no Arab democracy? Наистина, why is it the case that among the sixteen independent Arab states of the Middle East and coastal North Africa, Lebanon is the only one to have ever been a democracy?
The most common assumption about the Arab democracy deficit is that it must have something to do with religion or culture. След всичко, the one thing that all Arab countries share is that they are Arab.

Muslim Civil Society in Urban Public Spaces: Globalization, Discursive Shifts, and Social Movements

Пол М. Любек
Браяна Бритс
Cities are processes, not products. The three Islamic elements that set in motion the processes that give rise to Islamic cities were: a distinction between the members of the Umma and the outsiders, which led to juridical and spatial distinction by neighborhoods; the segregation of the sexes which gave rise to a particular solution to the question of spatial organization; and a legal system which, rather than imposing general regulations over land uses of various types in various places, left to the litigation of the neighbors the detailed adjudication of mutual rights over space and use. (Janet Abu Lughod 1987: 173)
Framing: Muslim Movements in Urban Situations We live in an intellectual moment when the complexity of the global Islamic
revival renders it difficult to generalize about Muslim institutions, social movements, and discursive practices. While diversity and locality remain paramount features of Muslim cities, globalization has inadvertently nurtured transnational Muslim networks from the homeland of Islam and extended them into the web of interconnected world cities. Quite opportunistically, urban-based
Muslim networks and insurrectionist movements now thrive in the interstitial spaces created by the new global communication and transportation infrastructures. What, тогава, are the long-term patterns for Muslims in cities? Since the last millennium, as Janet Abu-Lughod reminds us, “the Islamic cityhas been the primary site for: defining power relations between ruler and subject, specifying the rights and identities of spatial communities, and regulating urban social relations between genders. Today’s Muslim city remains the epicenter of a burgeoning public sphere in which informed publics debate highly contested Islamic discourses regarding social justice,

Демокрация, Тероризмът и американската политика в арабския свят

F. Грегъри Гауз

Съединените щати се заеха с това, което президентът Буш и държавният секретар Райс нарекоха „предизвикателство за поколенията“, за да насърчат политическите реформи и демокрацията в арабския свят. Администрацията на Буш и други защитници на кампанията за демокрация твърдят, че стремежът към арабска демокрация не е само за разпространение на американските ценности, но и за гарантиране на американската сигурност. Те предполагат, че с нарастването на демокрацията в арабския свят, антиамериканският тероризъм от арабския свят ще намалее. Следователно, насърчаването на демокрацията в арабския свят е не само в съответствие с американските цели за сигурност в района, но са необходими за постигане на тези цели.
При разглеждането на този елемент от „доктрината Буш“ в арабския свят възникват два въпроса: 1) Има ли такава връзка между тероризма и демокрацията, че колкото по-демократична става една държава, толкова по-малка е вероятността да създаде терористи и терористични групи? С други думи, е обосновката на сигурността за насърчаване на демокрацията в арабския свят, основана на солидна предпоставка?; и 2) Какви правителства вероятно ще бъдат генерирани от демократични избори в арабските страни? Ще бъдат ли готови да си сътрудничат със Съединените щати по важни политически цели в Близкия изток, не само в поддържането на демокрацията, но и на
арабско-израелски, Проблеми със сигурността в Персийския залив и петрола?
Тази статия ще разгледа тези два въпроса. Той установява, че има малко емпирични доказателства, свързващи демокрацията с отсъствието или намаляването на тероризма. Той поставя под въпрос дали демокрацията би намалила мотивите и възможностите на групи като Ал Кайда, които се противопоставят на демокрацията както на религиозни, така и на практически основания. Той разглежда последните тенденции в арабското обществено мнение и изборите, заключавайки, че докато арабската общественост подкрепя много демокрацията, демократичните избори в арабските държави вероятно ще създадат ислямистки правителства, които биха били много по-малко склонни да си сътрудничат със Съединените щати, отколкото техните авторитарни предшественици.

Hamas can set an example

Хадер Хадер

Perhaps the single most important aspect of Hamasoverwhelming victory in Palestinian Legislative Council elections last month is that it was the first time in the contemporary history of the Middle East that democracy was exercised for real without any direct external or internal interference. The ramifications of such free elections may well reverberate around the region for years to come and might mark a new phase in the geopolitical map of the Middle East.
This, въпреки това, was not the first time an Islamic political party showed its popularity at the ballot box. Algeria’s Islamic Front appeared headed to certain victory in elections in the mid-1990s before external intervention on the part of the “демократичен” West and its allies in Algiers nipped that experience in the bud. In Algeria, the result of burying democracy has been an extremely bloody conflict that still drags on, much to the embarrassment of western countries, which prefer not to comment. For the ordinary citizen in the Arab world, it was an experience that only added to the sense of oppression and frustration felt in every corner of the region.
Thus Hamaselectoral victory has sparked widespread hope among the Arab masses that they have another chance to find out if an Islamic party can rule better than the current regimes in the Arab world. Хамас, in this sense, carries the hopes of millions of Arabs and Muslims all over the world.
But with such expectations comes a time fraught with danger. Hamas and the way it runs matters in the Palestinian territories can set a very interesting example: if it succeeds; if it proves it can run Palestinian affairs more transparently and to the benefit of more ordinary Palestinians than previously, while at the same time managing tough negotiations with Israel, the experience will encourage other Islamic movements in the Arab world to use it as an example to convince their citizens that Islamic political movements are a viable alternative.
But if Hamas fails in its difficult and challenging task, the setback will strike a devastating blow to all Islamic movements and parties in the region. A Hamas failure could perhaps send the entire region into another period of political wilderness akin to the era after the failure of the pan-Arabists.
Поради това, Hamas in power is an interesting and illuminating phenomenon, and one that will be followed closely by all concerned parties. According to a leading Hamas figure in Khan Yunis, Д-р. Younis al-Astal, the International Muslim Brotherhood has already expressed its readiness to assist Hamas with all the needed expertise to make it succeed in its mission. The Brotherhood will of course be the principal benefactor of any Hamas success.
By the same token, въпреки това, the West may feel itself forced now to exert all possible efforts to make Hamas fail even if the movement proves successful in meeting the needs of the people. The issue in question here is not how efficient a government is but how loyal a government shows itself to be to the West. This is the measure the West has generally used to assess the Middle East, where billions of US dollars have been spent on keeping Arab regimesmoderate and realistic”, especially in relation to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
There is a curious parallel to the Cold War now in the dynamic that is developing between the West and the Muslim world. During the Cold War, the West was confident that democracy would bring the Eastern Bloc to its knees and forcefully spread the message that individual freedom and the right to vote were human rights par excellence.
Now, въпреки това, that same message is likely to backfire on the West. If real elections were held in Egypt and Jordan, it is highly likely that Muslim Brotherhood movements would come to power and cast into doubt the peace treaties between those countries and Israel, in which the West has invested so much effort.
Everyone knows that democracy comes at a cost in the Middle East. Is the world ready to engage in this game? The key is likely to be the success or otherwise of Hamas, which is operating under extremely adverse conditions. Arabs and Muslims across the region, so often let down by political promise from various quarters, may well be disappointed again. But in the meantime their hopes are with a political movement that is posing the first serious challenge in decades to Arab regimes everywhere.

Ангажирането на Европа с умерените ислямисти

Кристина Кауш

Директното ангажиране1 с ислямистките политически движения обикновено е забранено за европейските правителства. В последните години, въпреки това, границите на Европейския съюз (ЕС) ориентиран към стабилността подход към сътрудничество с авторитарни управляващи в Близкия изток и Северна Африка (МЕНА) за защита на стратегическите интереси на ЕС в региона стават все по-очевидни. Опитите на действащите управляващи от MENA да представят европейския избор на събеседници в региона или като стабилизиращи правителства, или като дестабилизиращи ислямисти, все повече се възприемат като недалновидни и противоречиви. Recent debates suggest that the search for viable alternative policy approaches is leading to a shift in European policy makers’ attitude towards moderate2 Islamist actors.
There is no shortage of incentives to redirect the course of EU policies in the region. Preventing the
radicalisation of Islamist movements in the region is an integral part of the EU’s counter-terrorism strategy. It
has become common wisdom that substantial political reform will only happen through effective pressure from
within. Non-violent, non-revolutionary Islamist parties that aspire to take power by means of a democratic
process have therefore often been portrayed as potential reform actors that carry the hopes of a volatile region
for genuine democratic development and long-term stability