Question
What is the role of Ethnic Conflicts in political Islamism and what is its relationship to Arab nationalism?
Objective
This research paper attempts to examine the controversial debate on Islamic and Arab nationalism and consequently draw a coherent analysis on the significant causal factors of the ethnic conflict between the two.
Abstract
Throughout the Arab world, the revolutionary rise of Islamic political forces has added a new dimension to the Arab intellectual and political divisions. The Arab nationalism and Islamism have been and still are one of the most powerful movements in Arab cultural and political. It is true that neither of the two holds power in any of the Arab countries, but their societal influence within various civil organizations is beyond doubt. Islamism and the Arab nationalism can however no longer claim possession over Arab’s imagination, a possession that is in essence the prime contributory factor to the ethnic violence. This paper will through a detailed and analytical research forge to connect and clarify this relationship between nationalism, religion and power and examine the forces that have driven Islamists and Arabs into war. This is particularly from the evidence since the cold war era of the immense political impact of religion that has gained global attention.
Thesis Statement
Consumed by ethnic conflicts, tension and political cleavage, Islamism and Arab nationalism are mainly catalyzed by the thirst for leadership and power and need for individual freedom and development.
Tentative Testable Hypotheses
Ethnic conflicts similar to that between political Islamism and Arabians are not for the sake of strengthening nationalism but because of personal goals and need for access to power.
Bibliography of Relevant Academic Articles
- Ahmet, T. Kuru. (2009). Secularism and State Policies toward Religion: The United
States, France, and Turkey. Cambridge University Press.
- David, A. Lake., Donald, Rothchild. Containing Fear; The origins and Management of
ethnic conflict. International Security. 21(2): 41-75.
- Stephen, M. Saideman., David, J. Lanoue., Michael, Campenni (1985-1998).
Democratization, Political Institutions, and Ethnic Conflict. A pooled time- series analysis. Comparative Political Studies, 35 (1): 103-129.
- Ernest Gellner. (1995). Is there a Muslim Society: Sociology of Islam. Economy and
Society, 24(2): 151-188.
Nationalism in Islam and Arab (Comparative Ethnic Conflict)
What is the role of the ethnic conflicts in the construction of nationalism? Is nationalism the ultimate goal of the wars or the insatiable thirst for power and dominance? These are the questions this paper will tackle with clear illustrations from significant historical events. Nationalism to begin with is the deep feeling of attachment and absolute loyalty that nationals or citizens to a particular country or homeland have that creates a sense of sharing, belonging and national unity. In the course of history, religion and nationalism have been the cause of distinctive differences and major conflicts and wars between nations and societies. With time however, the ethnic conflicts have taken a new dimension and are used as tools for gaining individual development and power.
According to Ernest Gellner’s “Sociology of Islam’, political rule in the contemporary Muslim society has always been vulnerable to the double threat of the different tribes that are never fully able to recognize the legitimacy of government. The power of tribes ended with modernity but mass literacy and urbanization have reinforced the challenge of secular power and religion-based urban ethos explaining the current wave of Islamism in politics. It is however argued that there are certain cultural themes that are common to most Muslim epochs and lands that are derived from common historical reference and religion. It would however be a mistake to think that the entities and concepts that are specified are political and sociological. It is evident however, that modern Islamism has become a political ideology that is quite distinct from any observations in the Muslim history and has therefore replaced the previously secular Marxism and nationalism that were dominant before.
Nationalists and Islamists have had a tense relationship since the early 19th century in the 1920s. Arab nationalism and Islamism have been for instance and are still are one of the most powerful movements in the political and cultural life of the Arabs. This explains the problematic nature of past attempts to understand the relationship between Arab nationalism and Islam. The recent separation between Arab nationalists and Islamists and the period of their heated political conflict has been a relatively new development in the history of Arab. Ethnic conflicts like this however according to the literature by David & Donald, “The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict” have been a significant component in history (1996). During the early 1950s, different military coups were able to bring young Arab nationalist officers to leadership and power in many Arab countries. These included Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, and Yemen. It was particularly during this period that Arab nationalism candidly and exclusively expressed its socialist and radical discourse and consequently became the official ideology in the Arab states.
The Arab nationalist entity was however turned into an authoritarian state by the fragile legitimacy base, the military background of its ruling forces, and the sweeping programs of centralization and modernization that they pursued. Because of this development, a series of confrontations and eruptions emerged between the Islamic political forces and the Arab nationalist regimes that questioned the intertwined concepts of identity, power, and legitimacy between the two. Islamism began its rise from one of the initial confrontations in 1954, when Egypt had embarked on a determined and desperate drive of destroying all of its Islamic opponents. Hundreds and thousands of Muslim activists were as a result jailed, often without trial. They would be subjected to East German methods of psychological destruction and torture as the eminent Muslim intellectuals- the ulama were forced to permanent exile and executed.
The Arab state accused these Islamists opponents of serving foreign power interests, being reactionary and employing religion for political gains. This they achieved through brandishing a utopian project on socialist development based on an anti-imperialist rhetoric and support from scores of nationalist intellectuals. Islamists on the other hand, depicted the radical nature of Egypt's regime together with its supporters in a monochromatic portrayal of a deliberate war against the Islamic identity or Arabians and Islam. This is evident in the work by Ahmet on "Secularism and State Policies toward Religion” that examines significant cases in history on the close encounters between religion and the law that ultimately represents the nation (2009). Donald’s “Democratization, Political Institutions, and Ethnic Conflict” proposes democratization as a solution to these growing cases of ethnic conflicts (1985-1998).
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