Islamic extremism
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Islamic extremism refers to the actions or intentions of individuals, groups or organizations that promote extreme or fanatical political or religious views in relation with Islam.
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[edit] Causes of extremism
There is no single cause of the rise of religious extremism in the Muslim world. The first major cause though is the failure of secular governments to promote good governance and economic advancement in most Muslim countries. Most of the extremist religious groups tend to be more influential in locations where local governments are least effective in addressing developmental challenges. [1] Another reason for existence of Islamist extremism is the desire of corrupt and oppressive rulers to maintain themselves in power. Various scholars and analysts stress a growing need for addressing these roots. They suggest that these measures need not involve the West imposing its political model on these societies. Rather, the role should be to sweep aside the obstacles to modernization and democratization from within.[2] Whereas the foreign policies of Western governments are failing to engage the local populations, on the other hand, their local policies are also increasingly driving "a wedge" between Muslims and other communities rather than isolate extremists. [3]
Assessing the present international trends with those of the history, according to Mark Glenn[4]
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- “To the New World, and by default the New World Order, the Arab/Muslim world is backwards in its values. It prohibits abortion and birth control. They have large families, as opposed to the West, where the average family has only 2 children. It prohibits usury banking, to which the West credits its own economic superiority. Theirs is a "closed" society (read into this no sodomy, pornography, gay lifestyle, et al) Theirs is a "cruel" society (read into this-they do not have people on death row for 20 years). And finally, they will not play the game the way the market wants it played, meaning, they want a just price for their only real source of wealth, their oil, instead of giving it away to the West for a fraction of its worth. In other words, the picture that has just been painted here is, the Muslim world is now what the Christian world once was and should be."
[edit] Counter measures
According to U.S. Institute of Peace
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- "Law and order approaches" to the problem of extremism generally are ineffectual because they offer no positive alternatives to the disaffected young who swell the ranks of extremist groups.[1]
For the counter measures, therefore, distinctions between Muslim extremists and Muslim moderates, should set the groundwork. However, there is always danger in choosing the words to use since careless terminology unintentionally winds up promoting the ideology of extremists [5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b U.S. Institute of Peace, Current Issues Briefing, April 17, 2002
- ^ Stephen Schwatz, The Real Roots of Islamic Extremism, The Dissident, May 22, 2003
- ^ Demos report, December 2, 2006 BBC
- ^ Mark Glenn, Islamic Extremism May Save Western Civilization, Media Monitors Network – April 18, 2003
- ^ Streusand, D. & Tunnell, H. (2006). "Choosing Words Carefully: Language to Help Fight Islamic Terrorism." Washington DC: National Defense University, Center for Strategic Communications Working Draft.
