Rise of the Islamists

Arab Spring - definition• Grassroots revolutionary wave of sustained campaigns

involving protests, strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies throughout the Arab World.

• The participants goals are to bring about regime change and/or changes in how the government is running the country.

• Resistance to strict government censorship of the internet.• Resistance to distribution of wealth in country.

• Many demonstrations have met with violent responses from the government or pro-government militias.

• Started December 18, 2010

Impact of Arab Spring• Leaders toppled by it:• Tunisia• Egypt• Libya• Yemen

• Failed:• Bahrain (thanks to Saudi intervention)• Syria (where it has devolved into a Civil War)

• Has occurred in varying degrees of intensity in EVERY Arab country.

Article – Rise of the Islamists• The author makes two key arguments:

• 1. Islamists have been willing to compromise• 2. The USA needs to engage Islamists now to get them to

respect key Western interests which are:• Advance the Arab-Israeli peace process• Countering Iran• Combating terrorism• Creating Civil liberties, equality, and rule by law

Rise of the Islamists• An Islamist is a Muslim who wants democracy/republicanism.

However, they want a heavy dose of Islamic, aka Sharia, Law infused with their version of democracy/republicanism.

What the West wants to see …• Western democracy prefers heavy infusion of secular (aka no

religion) law.• That being said, early US democracy/republican governments

had a heavy dose of Christian theology incorporated with them too.

• Only after trial and error did the USA remove most elements of secular law from it’s democracy.

• Essentially the USA is telling the Middle East – “we’ve been there – trust us – do it this way” …

Islamists and Foreign Policy• They want foreign influence out of the Middle East.• They are willing to work with foreign powers – BUT on an

equal footing .• Numerous Islamist groups have had ties to terrorism which

makes negotiating and cooperation tricky.

Islamists Concern USA?

• “Washington tends to question whether Islamists’ religious commitments can coexist with respect for democracy, pluralism, and women’s rights. But what the United states really fears are the kinds of foreign policies such groups might pursue. Unlike the Middle East’s pro- Western autocracies, Islamists have a distinctive … conception of an Arab world that is confident, independent, and willing to project influence beyond it’s borders”.

• Shadi Hamid Rise of the Islamists

In simpler terms:• The USA concerns are:• Can Islam coexist with the ideas of liberty, equality, and

freedom?• Will the USA and other Western countries lose influence in the

Middle East?• What will happen to the predictability and stability of the

Middle East?