In recent years countries of the Middle East have been experiencing a phenomenon known in western academic and media circles as Islamic revivalism, political Islam, resurgent Islam and fundamentalism. In a number of critical areas, including law, education, culture and politics, Islam now comes to play an increasingly active role. It is in the area of politics where secular governments in the Middle East more especially by the US and its western European allies, view Islamic revivalism with great apprehension. Government leaders and opinion makers in the Middle East, and the West, closely monitor the rise of political Islam or fundamentalism, as it is termed in western academic and media circles, which warn of the danger of the global threat of radical Islam. They warn about, and fear the coming to power of Islamic governments cooperating with each other, threatening Europe, and hostile to western interests in the region. With the communist threat diminished, these policymakers and opinion makers, particularly in the US, proclaim that Islam is the new communism. Headlines and scholarly articles announce the possibility of a jihad (holy war), and clash of civilization where a resurgent Islam may confront and overwhelm the West.
Gaining a force of its own, the idea of a threat is a common paradigm in academic and journalistic circles framing the intellectual discussion in post- Cold War international affairs. The threat is rooted in a set of objective and subjective factors that include both real and imaginary sources, but in most instances it rests on utterly fallacious assumptions, as many Western scholars argue. Political Islam is neither a unified force, nor a threat to the US or Western Europe, but is a diverse and complex phenomenon rooted in domestic crisis of specific Middle Eastern nations. While some Islamic organizations engage in violence and terrorism, seeking to topple governments, most spread their message through preaching and social services, and demand the right to gain legitimate power with ballots, rather than bullets.
The causes of the resurgence are multidimensional differing from country to country, but common catalysts and concerns are identifiable. Reasons for the revival of political Islam are centrally a combination of socioeconomic problems, and a search for cultural authenticity by certain groups, as a result of the process of urbanization, modernization, foreign domination and alienation from the secular state.
This thesis discusses the phenomena and reasons for the Islamic revivalism in the Middle East. Part one reviews the Islamic revivalism, its nature, catalysts and dynamics. It seeks to apply a framework, although not all encompassing, of the Islamic revivalism to certain societies in the region who experienced the consequences of secularization, modernization and development in the last century. It would particularly be applicable to non-oil producing states such as Egypt, the Maghreb, Syria and Turkey. Except for Algeria, these states underwent state formation and development without assistance of petroleum profits. The central argument is that the secular Western model of development, modernization and state formation in the Middle East is experiencing a crisis, hence the state faces grave socioeconomic and political difficulties. Islamic revivalism is a response to these problems, which is not necessarily an exhibition of religious fervor (by no means confined to Islam), regarded as emotional in origin, and belonging to the same group of vast secular political movements of the twentieth century, which displays mass rallies and expression of fervent belief. Furthermore, the historical context of the revival, and some of the major social, economic and political forces influencing and contributing to this movement will, in addition, be addressed.
The second part of the paper examines the notion and myth that Islam is a threat to the West.
Few, if any, issue in international relations have generated as much myth as that of an alleged "Islamic threat." The concern in western Europe and the US over an Islamic challenge became a matter of enduring international preoccupation, particularly as a result of the Iranian revolution in 1979, intensifying after the demise of communism and the Cold War. Policies by western states toward Islam and the Middle East based on this idea of a threat would rest on utterly misleading assumptions, and in the long term be detrimental to their interests, since Islam is neither unified nor a threat. The fact that the Islamic revivalism is limited to internal politics and socioeconomic conditions of individual states, belies the idea that it threatens, or works to confront the West. The Islamic revivalism is an effort to define the place of Muslims and Islam in contemporary international life. The challenge of shaping a "culturally authentic" response to a world order, shaped and dominated by the West, is not unique to Muslims; it is indeed a challenge facing all of the formerly colonized people who comprise the Third World. The Islamic revivalism is incomprehensible if divorced from the broader phenomena of mass movements and protest groups in the Third World.
The argument that follows in part two is an attempt to disentangle the myths, to show in what sense there is not, and also in what sense there is, a conflict between the secular world of the West and that of the Muslim world, particularly the Middle East. The historical roots of the perceived Islamic threat, and its fallacious assumptions are examined and discussed.
In the discussion to follow, I use the terms, Islamic resurgence, political Islam, Islamic revivalism and fundamentalism interchangeably. The latter expression, however, is not an appropriate common label to describe the phenomena of Islamic revivalism. It was originally coined to describe a movement in American Protestantism in the 1920's which struggled against modernism. In recent years the term has become one of the catchwords (the intention is probably to
identify it with aggression, violence and militancy) of both journalistic and scholarly writings about religion, particularly Islam. The word is used in the paper to refer to the revival, since it is so often cited by individuals, interest groups, the media and academics to frame and describe the Islamic threat that is under discussion.
This thesis studies the reasons, sources, catalysts and dynamics of the contemporary Islamic revivalism in the Middle East. A development and modernization crisis in the modern secular state is identified as the central factor for the revival, where certain social groups are responding to these problems. A modern phenomena, the revival is different to the ones preceding it, particularly as a result of urbanization
The major sources and catalysts responsible for the resurgence in the Middle East are discussed and analyzed. They are: the crisis of modernization and development; lack of political legitimacy of the secular ruling classes; and communication and education developments as a result of modernization. The analysis indicates that the Islamic revival is a result of internal political and socio-economic causes and must be viewed in this context.
Furthermore, the idea, expressed by many pundits and the media in the West, that the contemporary Islamic resurgence is a threat to them is examined. In analyzing this notion, I show that this perception is both real and imaginary, and the view of an Islamic danger confronting the West is a myth. In a post-Cold War world this notion serves the foreign policies of certain governments, especially the US. Influential politicians, scholars and interest groups, particularly the media, therefore, hype the concept of an Islamic threat to mobilize the American public to support the foreign policy objectives of the US administration in the Middle East, and a post-Cold War world. By deconstructing the Islamic threat I show how it is based on misleading and false assumptions and arguments. In conclusion I argue that American foreign policy, based on the idea of an Islamic threat in a post-Cold War world is shortsighted and does not serve its long term interests Instead it should disengage from supporting authoritarian regimes in the region and encourage democratization and dialogue with the Islamist movements.