Все Записи с тегами: "Египет"
Арабские завтра
Дэвид Б. Оттауэй
Октябрь 6, 1981, должен был быть день празднования в Египте. Это отметили годовщину величайшего момент Египта победы в трех арабо-израильского конфликта, когда слабым армии страны тяги через Суэцкий канал в первые дни ofthe 1973 Война Судного дня и послал израильских войск шатаясь в отступление. На прохладно, безоблачное утро, Стадион Каир был упакован с египетской семьи, которые пришли, чтобы увидеть военную стойки его hardware.On трибуны, Президент Анвар эль-Садат,Война архитектор, с удовлетворением наблюдал, как люди и машины напоказ перед ним. Я был рядом, вновь прибывших иностранных correspondent.Suddenly, один из армейские грузовики остановились прямо перед трибуны так же, как шесть Мираж струй ревели над головой в исполнении акробатических, Картина небо с длинными следы красной, желтый, пурпурный,и зеленого дыма. Садат поднялся, по-видимому подготовки для обмена салютами с еще одним контингента египетских войск. Он сделал себе идеальный цель в течение четырех исламистских убийц, выпрыгнул из грузовика, штурмом трибуну, и изрешетили его тело с bullets.As убийцы продолжают за то, что казалось, вечность для распыления стенд с их смертельным огнем, Я считал для мгновенного ли ударился о землю и риск попираются к смертной казни через запаниковал зрителей или оставаться в движении и риску шальная пуля. Инстинкт подсказывал мне, чтобы остаться на ногах, и мое чувство журналистского долга заставило меня пойти выяснить, Садат был живым или мертвым.
| Сен 26, 2010 | Комментарии 0
The Totalitarianism of Jihadist Islamism and its Challenge to Europe and to Islam
Бассам Тиби
When reading the majority of texts that comprise the vast literature that has been published by self-proclaimed pundits on political Islam, it is easy to miss the fact that a new movement has arisen. Further, this literature fails to explain in a satisfactory manner the fact that the ideology which drives it is based on a particular interpretation of Islam, and that it is thus a politicised religious faith,
not a secular one. The only book in which political Islam is addressed as a form of totalitarianism is the one by Paul Berman, Terror and Liberalism (2003). The author is, однако, not an expert, cannot read Islamic sources, and therefore relies on the selective use of one or two secondary sources, thus failing to grasp the phenomenon.
One of the reasons for such shortcomings is the fact that most of those who seek to inform us about the ‘jihadist threat’ – and Berman is typical of this scholarship – not only lack the language skills to read the sources produced by the ideologues of political Islam, but also lack knowledge about the cultural dimension of the movement. This new totalitarian movement is in many ways a novelty
in the history of politics since it has its roots in two parallel and related phenomena: first, the culturalisation of politics which leads to politics being conceptualised as a cultural system (a view pioneered by Clifford Geertz); and second the return of the sacred, or ‘re-enchantment’ of the world, как реакция на его интенсивную секуляризацию в результате глобализации.
Анализ политических идеологий, основанных на религиях, и которая может быть привлекательной как политическая религия вследствие этого, включает в себя социальное понимание роли религии в мировой политике, особенно после того, как биполярная система времен холодной войны уступила место многополярному миру. В проекте Института Ханны Арендт по применению тоталитаризма к изучению политических религий., Я предложил различие между светскими идеологиями, которые заменяют религию., и религиозные идеологии, основанные на подлинной религиозной вере, так обстоит дело с религиозным фундаментализмом (смотрите примечание
24). Еще один проект на тему «Политическая религия», carried out at the University of Basel, has made clearer the point that new approaches to politics become necessary once a religious faith becomes clothed in a political garb.Drawing on the authoritative sources of political Islam, this article suggests that the great variety of organisations inspired by Islamist ideology are to be conceptualised both as political religions and as political movements. The unique quality of political Islam lies is the fact that it is based on a transnational religion (смотрите примечание 26).
| Сен 15, 2010 | Комментарии 0
ислам, Политический ислам и Америки
Арабские Insight
Is “Brotherhood” with America Possible?
khalil al-anani
“there is no chance of communicating with any U.S. administration so long as the United States maintains its long-standing view of Islam as a real danger, a view that puts the United States in the same boat as the Zionist enemy. We have no pre-conceived notions concerning the American people or the U.S. society and its civic organizations and think tanks. We have no problem communicating with the American people but no adequate efforts are being made to bring us closer,” said Dr. Issam al-Iryan, chief of the political department of the Muslim Brotherhood in a phone interview.
Al-Iryan’s words sum up the Muslim Brotherhood’s views of the American people and the U.S. government. Other members of the Muslim Brotherhood would agree, as would the late Hassan al-Banna, who founded the group in 1928. Al- Banna viewed the West mostly as a symbol of moral decay. Other Salafis – an Islamic school of thought that relies on ancestors as exemplary models – have taken the same view of the United States, but lack the ideological flexibility espoused by the Muslim Brotherhood. While the Muslim Brotherhood believes in engaging the Americans in civil dialogue, other extremist groups see no point in dialogue and maintain that force is the only way of dealing with the United States.
| Сен 15, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Либеральная демократия и политический ислам: Поиски Common Ground.
Мустафа Benhenda
Эта статья направлена на установление диалога между демократической и исламской политическими теориями. Взаимодействие между ними вызывает недоумение: например, чтобы объяснить отношения, существующие между демократией и их концепцией идеального исламского политического
режим, Пакистанский ученый Абу-Ала Модуди придумал неологизм «теодемократия», в то время как французский ученый Луи Массиньон предложил оксюморон «светская теократия». Эти выражения предполагают, что некоторые аспекты демократии оцениваются положительно, а другие - отрицательно. Например, Мусульманские ученые и активисты часто поддерживают принцип ответственности правителей, которая является определяющей чертой демократии. Наоборот, они часто отвергают принцип разделения религии и государства, который часто считается частью демократии (по крайней мере, демократии, как известно в Соединенных Штатах сегодня). Учитывая эту смешанную оценку демократических принципов, кажется интересным определить концепцию демократии, лежащую в основе исламских политических моделей. Другими словами, мы должны попытаться выяснить, что является демократическим в «теодемократии». С этой целью, среди внушительного разнообразия и многообразия исламских традиций нормативной политической мысли, мы в основном фокусируемся на широком распространении мыслей, восходящих к Абу-Ала-Маудуди и египетскому интеллектуалу Сайеду Кутбу. Эта особая тенденция мышления интересна тем, что в мусульманском мире, оно лежит в основе некоторых наиболее сложных оппозиций распространению ценностей, исходящих с Запада. На основе религиозных ценностей, эта тенденция разработала политическую модель, альтернативную либеральной демократии. Говоря в широком смысле, концепция демократии, включенная в эту исламскую политическую модель, является процедурной. С некоторыми отличиями, эта концепция основана на демократических теориях, отстаиваемых некоторыми конституционалистами и политологами10. Она тонкая и минималистская, до определенной точки. Например, он не опирается на какое-либо понятие народного суверенитета и не требует какого-либо разделения между религией и политикой. Первой целью этой статьи является разработка этой минималистской концепции.. Мы подробно излагаем его, чтобы отделить эту концепцию от ее моральной (либеральный) устои, которые являются противоречивыми с конкретной исламской точки зрения, рассматриваемой здесь. Верно, демократический процесс обычно основывается на принципе личной автономии, который не поддерживается этими исламскими теориями. 11 Здесь, мы показываем, что такой принцип не является необходимым для оправдания демократического процесса.
| Сен 09, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Ислам и новый политический ландшафт
Назад, Михаил Кит, Азра Хан,
Калбир Шукра и Джон Соломос
ПОСЛЕ теракта во Всемирном торговом центре 11 Сентябрь 2001, и взрывы в Мадриде и Лондоне 2004 а также 2005, литература, посвященная формам и модальностям религиозного выражения, особенно исламского религиозного выражения, процветала в регионах полутени, которые связывают основные социальные науки с разработкой социальной политики., аналитические центры и журналистика. Большая часть работы была посвящена попыткам определить отношение или предрасположенность мусульманского населения в конкретном месте напряженности, таком как Лондон или Великобритания. (Барнс, 2006; Этнос Консалтинг, 2005; ГФК, 2006; ГЛА, 2006; Тополь, 2006), или критиковал определенные формы вмешательства социальной политики (Яркий, 2006а; Мирза и др., 2007). Исследования исламизма и джихадизма привлекли особое внимание к синкретическим и сложным связям между исламской религиозной верой и формами социального движения и политической мобилизации. (Хусейн, 2007; Кепель, 2004, 2006; Макрой, 2006; Невилл-Джонс и др., 2006, 2007; Филипс, 2006; Рой, 2004, 2006). Традиционно, аналитический фокус выдвинул на первый план культуру ислама, системы убеждений верующих, и исторические и географические траектории мусульманского населения по всему миру в целом и на «Западе» в частности. (Аббас, 2005; Ансари, 2002; Ид и Гарбин, 2002; Хусейн, 2006; Режимы, 2005; Рамадан, 1999, 2005). В этой статье акцент другой. Мы утверждаем, что исследования исламского политического участия необходимо тщательно рассматривать в контексте, не прибегая к общим обобщениям о культуре и вере.. Это связано с тем, что и культура, и вера структурированы и, в свою очередь, структурируют культурные ценности., институциональные и совещательные ландшафты, через которые они артикулируются. В случае с британским опытом, скрытые следы христианства в формировании государства всеобщего благоденствия в прошлом веке, быстро меняющаяся картография пространств политического и роль «религиозных организаций» в реструктуризации социального обеспечения порождают материальный социальный контекст, определяющий возможности и контуры новых форм политического участия..
| Сен 08, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Исламская реформация
Аднан Хан
The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi boasted after the events of 9/11:
“…we must be aware of the superiority of our civilisation, a system that has guaranteed
well being, respect for human rights and – in contrast with Islamic countries – respect
for religious and political rights, a system that has its values understanding of diversity
and tolerance…The West will conquer peoples, like it conquered communism, even if it
means a confrontation with another civilisation, the Islamic one, stuck where it was
1,400 years ago…”1
And in a 2007 report the RAND institute declared:
“The struggle underway throughout much of the Muslim world is essentially a war of
ideas. Its outcome will determine the future direction of the Muslim world.”
Building moderate Muslim Networks, RAND Institute
The concept of ‘islah’ (reform) is a concept unknown to Muslims. It never existed throughout the
history of the Islamic civilisation; it was never debated or even considered. A cursory glance at classical
Islamic literature shows us that when the classical scholars laid the foundations of usul, and codified
their Islamic rulings (fiqh) they were only looking to the comprehension of the Islamic rules in order to
apply them. A similar situation occurred when the rules were laid down for the hadith, tafseer and the
Arabic language. Scholars, thinkers and intellectuals throughout Islamic history spent much time
understanding Allah’s revelation – the Qur’an and applying the ayaat upon the realities and coined
principals and disciplines in order to facilitate understanding. Hence the Qur’an remained the basis of
study and all the disciplines that evolved were always based upon the Qur’an. Those who became
smitten by Greek philosophy such as the Muslim philosophers and some from amongst the Mut’azilah
were considered to have left the fold of Islam as the Qur’an ceased to be their basis of study. Thus for
any Muslim attempting to deduce rules or understand what stance should be taken upon a particular
issue the Qur’an is the basis of this study.
The first attempt at reforming Islam took place at the turn of the 19th century. By the turn of the
century the Ummah had been in a lengthy period of decline where the global balance of power shifted
from the Khilafah to Britain. Mounting problems engulfed the Khilafah whilst Western Europe was in
the midst of the industrial revolution. The Ummah came to lose her pristine understanding of Islam, а также
in an attempt to reverse the decline engulfing the Uthmani’s (Ottomans) some Muslims were sent to the
На запад, and as a result became smitten by what they saw. Rifa’a Rafi’ al-Tahtawi of Egypt (1801-1873),
on his return from Paris, wrote a biographical book called Takhlis al-ibriz ila talkhis Bariz (The
Extraction of Gold, or an Overview of Paris, 1834), praising their cleanliness, love of work, and above
all social morality. He declared that we must mimic what is being done in Paris, advocating changes to
the Islamic society from liberalising women to the systems of ruling. This thought, and others like it,
marked the beginning of the reinventing trend in Islam.
| Сен 07, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Ислам на западе
Жоселин Чезари
Иммиграция мусульман в Европу, Северная Америка, Австралия и сложившаяся впоследствии сложная социально-религиозная динамика сделали ислам на Западе привлекательной новой областью исследований.. Дело Салмана Рушди, споры о хиджабе, нападения на Всемирный торговый центр, а шумиха вокруг датских карикатур - все это примеры международных кризисов, которые выявили связи между мусульманами на Западе и мировым мусульманским миром.. Эти новые ситуации влекут за собой теоретические и методологические проблемы для изучения современного ислама., и стало критически важным, чтобы мы избегали эссенциализации ислама или мусульман и сопротивлялись риторическим структурам дискурсов, которые сосредоточены на безопасности и терроризме..
В этой статье, Я утверждаю, что ислам как религиозная традиция - это terra incognita.. Предварительная причина такой ситуации в том, что нет единого мнения о религии как объекте исследования.. Религия, как учебная дисциплина, разрывается между историческими, социологический, и герменевтические методологии. С исламом, ситуация еще более запутанная. На Западе, изучение ислама началось как ветвь востоковедных исследований и, следовательно, пошло по отдельному и отличному от изучения религий пути.. Несмотря на то, что критика ориентализма сыграла центральную роль в появлении изучения ислама в области социальных наук, остается сильная напряженность между исламистами и антропологами, и социологами.. Тема ислама и мусульман на Западе встроена в эту борьбу.. Одним из следствий этого методологического противоречия является то, что изучающие ислам, которые начали свою академическую карьеру, изучая ислам во Франции,, Германия, или Америка - и сложно завоевать доверие как исследователей ислама., особенно в североамериканских академических
контекст.
| Сен 07, 2010 | Комментарии 0
ISLAM, DEMOCRACY & THE USA:
Cordoba Foundation
Абдулла Faliq
Intro ,
In spite of it being both a perennial and a complex debate, Arches Quarterly reexamines from theological and practical grounds, the important debate about the relationship and compatibility between Islam and Democracy, as echoed in Barack Obama’s agenda of hope and change. Whilst many celebrate Obama’s ascendancy to the Oval Office as a national catharsis for the US, others remain less optimistic of a shift in ideology and approach in the international arena. While much of the tension and distrust between the Muslim world and the USA can be attributed to the approach of promoting democracy, typically favoring dictatorships and puppet regimes that pay lip-service to democratic values and human rights, the aftershock of 9/11 has truly cemented the misgivings further through America’s position on political Islam. It has created a wall of negativity as found by worldpublicopinion.org, according to which 67% of Egyptians believe that globally America is playing a “mainly negative” role.
America’s response has thus been apt. By electing Obama, many around the world are pinning their hopes for developing a less belligerent, but fairer foreign policy towards the Muslim world. Th e test for Obama, as we discuss, is how America and her allies promote democracy. Will it be facilitating or imposing?
более того, can it importantly be an honest broker in prolonged zones of confl icts? Enlisting the expertise and insight of prolifi
c scholars, academics, seasoned journalists and politicians, Arches Quarterly brings to light the relationship between Islam and Democracy and the role of America – as well as the changes brought about by Obama, in seeking the common ground. Anas Altikriti, the CEO of Th e Cordoba Foundation provides the opening gambit to this discussion, where he refl ects on the hopes and challenges that rests on Obama’s path. Following Altikriti, the former advisor to President Nixon, Dr Robert Crane off ers a thorough analysis of the Islamic principle of the right to freedom. Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, enriches the discussion with the practical realities of implementing democracy in Muslim dominant societies, а именно, in Indonesia and Malaysia.
We also have Dr Shireen Hunter, of Georgetown University, США, who explores Muslim countries lagging in democratisation and modernisation. Th is is complemented by terrorism writer, Dr Nafeez Ahmed’s explanation of the crisis of post-modernity and the
demise of democracy. Dr Daud Abdullah (Director of Middle East Media Monitor), Alan Hart (former ITN and BBC Panorama correspondent; author of Zionism: Th e Real Enemy of the Jews) and Asem Sondos (Editor of Egypt’s Sawt Al Omma weekly) concentrate on Obama and his role vis-à-vis democracy-promotion in the Muslim world, as well as US relations with Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Minister of Foreign Aff airs, Maldives, Ahmed Shaheed speculates on the future of Islam and Democracy; Cllr. Gerry Maclochlainn
– a Sinn Féin member who endured four years in prison for Irish Republican activities and a campaigner for the Guildford 4 and Birmingham 6, refl ects on his recent trip to Gaza where he witnessed the impact of the brutality and injustice meted out against Palestinians; Dr Marie Breen-Smyth, Director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence discusses the challenges of critically researching political terror; Dr Khalid al-Mubarak, writer and playwright, discusses prospects of peace in Darfur; and fi nally journalist and human rights activist Ashur Shamis looks critically at the democratisation and politicisation of Muslims today.
We hope all this makes for a comprehensive reading and a source for refl ection on issues that aff ect us all in a new dawn of hope.
Thank you
| Сен 07, 2010 | Комментарии 0
US Hamas policy blocks Middle East peace
Генри Siegman
Failed bilateral talks over these past 16 years have shown that a Middle East peace accord can never be reached by the parties themselves. Israeli governments believe they can defy international condemnation of their illegal colonial project in the West Bank because they can count on the US to oppose international sanctions. Bilateral talks that are not framed by US-formulated parameters (based on Security Council resolutions, the Oslo accords, the Arab Peace Initiative, the “road map” and other previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements) cannot succeed. Israel’s government believes that the US Congress will not permit an American president to issue such parameters and demand their acceptance. What hope there is for the bilateral talks that resume in Washington DC on September 2 depends entirely on President Obama proving that belief to be wrong, and on whether the “bridging proposals” he has promised, should the talks reach an impasse, are a euphemism for the submission of American parameters. Such a US initiative must offer Israel iron-clad assurances for its security within its pre-1967 borders, but at the same time must make it clear these assurances are not available if Israel insists on denying Palestinians a viable and sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza. This paper focuses on the other major obstacle to a permanent status agreement: the absence of an effective Palestinian interlocutor. Addressing Hamas’ legitimate grievances – and as noted in a recent CENTCOM report, Hamas has legitimate grievances – could lead to its return to a Palestinian coalition government that would provide Israel with a credible peace partner. If that outreach fails because of Hamas’ rejectionism, the organization’s ability to prevent a reasonable accord negotiated by other Palestinian political parties will have been significantly impeded. If the Obama administration will not lead an international initiative to define the parameters of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and actively promote Palestinian political reconciliation, Europe must do so, and hope America will follow. К сожалению, there is no silver bullet that can guarantee the goal of “two states living side by side in peace and security.”
But President Obama’s present course absolutely precludes it.
| Сен 07, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Islamism revisited
МАХА Аззам
There is a political and security crisis surrounding what is referred to as Islamism, a crisis whose antecedents long precede 9/11. Over the past 25 лет, there have been different emphases on how to explain and combat Islamism. Analysts and policymakers
in the 1980s and 1990s spoke of the root causes of Islamic militancy as being economic malaise and marginalization. More recently there has been a focus on political reform as a means of undermining the appeal of radicalism. Increasingly today, the ideological and religious aspects of Islamism need to be addressed because they have become features of a wider political and security debate. Whether in connection with Al-Qaeda terrorism, political reform in the Muslim world, the nuclear issue in Iran or areas of crisis such as Palestine or Lebanon, it has become commonplace to fi nd that ideology and religion are used by opposing parties as sources of legitimization, inspiration and enmity.
The situation is further complicated today by the growing antagonism towards and fear of Islam in the West because of terrorist attacks which in turn impinge on attitudes towards immigration, religion and culture. The boundaries of the umma or community of the faithful have stretched beyond Muslim states to European cities. The umma potentially exists wherever there are Muslim communities. The shared sense of belonging to a common faith increases in an environment where the sense of integration into the surrounding community is unclear and where discrimination may be apparent. The greater the rejection of the values of society,
whether in the West or even in a Muslim state, the greater the consolidation of the moral force of Islam as a cultural identity and value-system.
Following the bombings in London on 7 Июль 2005 it became more apparent that some young people were asserting religious commitment as a way of expressing ethnicity. The links between Muslims across the globe and their perception that Muslims are vulnerable have led many in very diff erent parts of the world to merge their own local predicaments into the wider Muslim one, having identifi ed culturally, either primarily or partially, with a broadly defi ned Islam.
| Сен 06, 2010 | Комментарии 0
ISLAM AND THE RULE OF LAW
Биргит Krawietz
Гельмут Reifeld
In our modern Western society, state-organised legal sys-tems normally draw a distinctive line that separates religion and the law. Conversely, there are a number of Islamic re-gional societies where religion and the laws are as closely interlinked and intertwined today as they were before the onset of the modern age. В то же время, the proportion in which religious law (shariah in Arabic) and public law (qanun) are blended varies from one country to the next. What is more, the status of Islam and consequently that of Islamic law differs as well. According to information provided by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), there are currently 57 Islamic states worldwide, defined as countries in which Islam is the religion of (1) the state, (2) the majority of the population, or (3) a large minority. All this affects the development and the form of Islamic law.
| Сен 06, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Исламская политическая культура, Демократия, и права человека
Даниэль E. Цена
Утверждалось, что ислам способствует авторитаризму., contradicts the values of Western societies, and significantly affects important political outcomes in Muslim nations. как следствие, ученые, комментаторы, and government officials frequently point to ‘‘Islamic fundamentalism’’ as the next ideological threat to liberal democracies. Этот вид, однако, is based primarily on the analysis of texts, Исламская политическая теория, and ad hoc studies of individual countries, которые не учитывают другие факторы. It is my contention that the texts and traditions of Islam, как представители других религий, может использоваться для поддержки различных политических систем и политик.. Country specific and descriptive studies do not help us to find patterns that will help us explain the varying relationships between Islam and politics across the countries of the Muslim world. Следовательно, новый подход к изучению
связь между исламом и политикой призвана.
Я предлагаю, через тщательную оценку отношений между исламом, демократия, и права человека на межнациональном уровне, that too much emphasis is being placed on the power of Islam as a political force. I first use comparative case studies, which focus on factors relating to the interplay between Islamic groups and regimes, экономические влияния, этнические расколы, и общественное развитие, to explain the variance in the influence of Islam on politics across eight nations. I argue that much of the power
attributed to Islam as the driving force behind policies and political systems in Muslim nations can be better explained by the previously mentioned factors. I also find, contrary to common belief, that the increasing strength of Islamic political groups has often been associated with modest pluralization of political systems.
I have constructed an index of Islamic political culture, based on the extent to which Islamic law is utilized and whether and, if so, how,Western ideas, institutions, and technologies are implemented, to test the nature of the relationship between Islam and democracy and Islam and human rights. This indicator is used in statistical analysis, which includes a sample of twenty-three predominantly Muslim countries and a control group of twenty-three non-Muslim developing nations. In addition to comparing
Islamic nations to non-Islamic developing nations, statistical analysis allows me to control for the influence of other variables that have been found to affect levels of democracy and the protection of individual rights. The result should be a more realistic and accurate picture of the influence of Islam on politics and policies.
| Сен 06, 2010 | Комментарии 0
PRECISION IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR:
Sherifa Зухур
Seven years after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, many experts believe al-Qa’ida has regained strength and that its copycats or affiliates are more lethal than before. The National Intelligence Estimate of 2007 asserted that al-Qa’ida is more dangerous now than before 9/11.1 Al-Qa’ida’s emulators continue to threaten Western, Middle Eastern, and European nations, as in the plot foiled in September 2007 in Germany. Bruce Riedel states: Thanks largely to Washington’s eagerness to go into Iraq rather than hunting down al Qaeda’s leaders, the organization now has a solid base of operations in the badlands of Pakistan and an effective franchise in western Iraq. Its reach has spread throughout the Muslim world and in Europe . . . Osama bin Laden has mounted a successful propaganda campaign. . . . His ideas now attract more followers than ever.
It is true that various salafi-jihadist organizations are still emerging throughout the Islamic world. Why have heavily resourced responses to the Islamist terrorism that we are calling global jihad not proven extremely effective?
Moving to the tools of “soft power,” what about the efficacy of Western efforts to bolster Muslims in the Global War on Terror (GWOT)? Why has the United States won so few “hearts and minds” in the broader Islamic world? Why do American strategic messages on this issue play so badly in the region? Why, despite broad Muslim disapproval of extremism as shown in surveys and official utterances by key Muslim leaders, has support for bin Ladin actually increased in Jordan and in Pakistan?
This monograph will not revisit the origins of Islamist violence. It is instead concerned with a type of conceptual failure that wrongly constructs the GWOT and which discourages Muslims from supporting it. They are unable to identify with the proposed transformative countermeasures because they discern some of their core beliefs and institutions as targets in
this endeavor.
Several deeply problematic trends confound the American conceptualizations of the GWOT and the strategic messages crafted to fight that War. These evolve from (1) post-colonial political approaches to Muslims and Muslim majority nations that vary greatly and therefore produce conflicting and confusing impressions and effects; а также (2) residual generalized ignorance of and prejudice toward Islam and subregional cultures. Add to this American anger, fear, and anxiety about the deadly events of 9/11, and certain elements that, despite the urgings of cooler heads, hold Muslims and their religion accountable for the misdeeds of their coreligionists, or who find it useful to do so for political reasons.
| Сен 06, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Демократия, Elections and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
Israel Elad-Altman
The American-led Middle East reform and democratization campaign of the last two years has helped shape a new political reality in Egypt. Opportunities have opened up for dissent. With U.S. and European support, local opposition groups have been able to take initiative, advance their causes and extract concessions from the state. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement (МБ), which has been officially outlawed as a political organization, is now among the groups facing both new opportunities
and new risks.
Western governments, including the government of the United States, are considering the MB and other “moderate Islamist” groups as potential partners in helping to advance democracy in their countries, and perhaps also in eradicating Islamist terrorism. Could the Egyptian MB fill that role? Could it follow the track of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Indonesian Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), two Islamist parties that, according to some analysts, are successfully adapting to the rules of liberal democracy and leading their countries toward greater integration with, respectively, Europe and a “pagan” Asia?
This article examines how the MB has responded to the new reality, how it has handled the ideological and practical challenges and dilemmas that have arisen during the past two years. To what extent has the movement accommodated its outlook to new circumstances? What are its objectives and its vision of the political order? How has it reacted to U.S. overtures and to the reform and democratization campaign?
How has it navigated its relations with the Egyptian regime on one hand, and other opposition forces on the other, as the country headed toward two dramatic elections in autumn 2005? To what extent can the MB be considered a force that might lead Egypt
toward liberal democracy?
| Сен 05, 2010 | Комментарии 0
EGYPT’S MUSLIM BROTHERS: CONFRONTATION OR INTEGRATION?
Research
The Society of Muslim Brothers’ success in the November-December 2005 elections for the People’s Assembly sent shockwaves through Egypt’s political system. In response, the regime cracked down on the movement, harassed other potential rivals and reversed its fledging reform process. This is dangerously short-sighted. There is reason to be concerned about the Muslim Brothers’ political program, and they owe the people genuine clarifications about several of its aspects. But the ruling National Democratic
Party’s (NDP) refusal to loosen its grip risks exacerbating tensions at a time of both political uncertainty surrounding the presidential succession and serious socio-economic unrest. Though this likely will be a prolonged, gradual process, the regime should take preliminary steps to normalise the Muslim Brothers’ participation in political life. The Muslim Brothers, whose social activities have long been tolerated but whose role in formal politics is strictly limited, won an unprecedented 20 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 2005 выборы. They did so despite competing for only a third of available seats and notwithstanding considerable obstacles, including police repression and electoral fraud. This success confirmed their position as an extremely wellorganised and deeply rooted political force. В то же время, it underscored the weaknesses of both the legal opposition and ruling party. The regime might well have wagered that a modest increase in the Muslim Brothers’ parliamentary representation could be used to stoke fears of an Islamist takeover and thereby serve as a reason to stall reform. If so, the strategy is at heavy risk of backfiring.
| Сен 05, 2010 | Комментарии 0
Ислам и демократия: Text, Tradition, and History
Ахрар Ахмад
Popular stereotypes in the West tend to posit a progressive, rational, and free West against a backward, oppressive, and threatening Islam. Public opinion polls conducted in the United States during the 1990s revealed a consistent pattern of Americans labeling Muslims as “religious fanatics” and considering Islam’s ethos as fundamentally “anti-democratic.”1 These characterizations
and misgivings have, for obvious reasons, significantly worsened since the tragedy of 9/11. тем не мение, these perceptions are not reflected merely in the popular consciousness or crude media representations. Respected scholars also have contributed to this climate of opinion by writing about the supposedly irreconcilable differences between Islam and the West, the famous “clash of civilizations” that is supposed to be imminent and inevitable, and about the seeming incompatibility between Islam and democracy. Например, Professor Peter Rodman worries that “we are challenged from the outside by a militant atavistic force driven by hatred of all Western political thought harking back to age-old grievances against Christendom.” Dr. Daniel Pipes proclaims that the Muslims challenge the West more profoundly than the communists ever did, for “while the Communists disagree with our policies, the fundamentalist Muslims despise our whole way of life.” Professor Bernard Lewis warns darkly about “the historic reaction of an ancient rival against our Judeo–Christian heritage, our secular present, and the expansion of both.” Professor Amos Perlmutter asks: “Is Islam, fundamentalist or otherwise, compatible with human-rights oriented Western style representative democracy? The answer is an emphatic NO.” And Professor Samuel Huntington suggests with a flourish that “the problem is not Islamic fundamentalism, but Islam itself.” It would be intellectually lazy and simple-minded to dismiss their positions as based merely on spite or prejudice. по факту, if one ignores some rhetorical overkill, some of their charges, though awkward for Muslims, are relevant to a discussion of the relationship between Islam and democracy in the modern world. Например, the position of women or sometimes non-Muslims in some Muslim countries is problematic in terms of the supposed legal equality of all people in a democracy. по аналогии, the intolerance directed by some Muslims against writers (e.g., Salman Rushdie in the UK, Taslima Nasrin in Bangladesh, and Professor Nasr Abu Zaid in Egypt) ostensibly jeopardizes the principle of free speech, which is essential to a democracy.
It is also true that less than 10 of the more than 50 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference have institutionalized democratic principles or processes as understood in the West, and that too, only tentatively. в заключение, the kind of internal stability and external peace that is almost a prerequisite for a democracy to function is vitiated by the turbulence of internal implosion or external aggression evident in many Muslim countries today (e.g., Сомали, Судан, Индонезия, Пакистан, Ирак, Афганистан, Алжир, and Bosnia).
| Сен 04, 2010 | Комментарии 0
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