TPM Reader RM responds to John Judis:
I disagree with John Judis’ analysis regarding the terrorist attack in Europe. I think he conflates issues in the Middle East with those of the Muslim community living abroad. I don’t think the two are linked as closely as he assumes. I also think he conflates terrorism (a tactic) with the ideology of militant Islamic fundamentalism.
I believe several countries in the Middle East are more likely to go the way of Colombia, which seems to have evolved past its days of drug cartel warfare to a brighter future. I am not saying that all is well in Colombia, but it is much safer to go to there today than it was in the 1980s and 90s and the government is functioning, stable and has more legitimacy. In the Middle East, one can see the beginnings where people have stood up and faced down fundamentalists as destructive to their own well being and their culture. That movement is growing, as we can see in how ISIS has been diminished territorially in recent months, largely with Muslims taking the lead. We also see it Libya where many Libyans are battling ISIS.
In the Muslim enclaves in Europe, ISIS and its variants and predecessors are outlets for people who are stuck between two cultures and don’t feel like winners in either. (Yes, it has a similarity to the phenomenon that Trump has identified in the US, though let’s keep in mind that the Arab and Muslim variation is far more violent and far more extreme). In the Muslim world, conservative minded folks celebrate their cultural identity and history when Islamic kingdoms were a dominant player on the world stage. They are not anymore; they know it; and it feeds a lot of anger.
Assimilation and generational change will change that eventually in the West, but it has little to do with the actual events in the Middle East. The Muslim diaspora who are attracted to the Al-Qaeda’s and ISIS’ of the world are just looking for a team where they feel powerful and relevant.
The movements within the Middle East which have spurred the rise of militant Islamic fundamentalism are a product of internal political dynamics. Basically, the leading player in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, is a conservative, fundamentalist caliphate that is looking to spread its influence and reshape Islam. They make money in the modern western economy and use it to actively fund and support an anti-western agenda. Some, like Osama Bin Laden, have/had delusions of grandeur of returning the Muslim world to its former glory and that is what inspires all of the fundie groups. Because of Saudi funding and organization and Pakistani support and incubation, the militant Islamic fundamentalist movement is more of a top down movement that co-opted populist movements. Think of Saudi Arabia and their Wahabbi supporters like the Koch Brothers – They’ve co-opted the religious and fundamentalist Sunni Arab community for their own ends. Some are more extreme than others, but the Saudi elites continue to fund them because it serves a larger purpose.
They are also in battle with a more populist, revolutionary Shiite power in Iran. Now we know that Iran’s younger population is much less hostile to the west than the Mullahs from the Khomeini era, and there is potential for Iran to re-enter the family of nations looking more like Turkey than its recent past.
So my prescription for dealing with the problem of Militant Islamic Fundamentalism is similar to Obama’s but as follows:
– Improve intelligence sharing and a collaborative approach to security
– stay out of active, large scale military engagements & wars in the Middle East.
– provide political, air and logistical support where advantageous to western interests to contain, diminish and degrade ISIS and its cousins.
– actively promote the rights of women in every single Muslim country. Fundamentalism’s energy at the grassroots level comes from its hostility to the liberation of women. Confront that and you’ll weaken fundamentalism as a viable political force in the Muslim world.
– Reorganize US priorities away from dependency on Saudi & Arab oil. Reorganize diplomatic relationships to diminish Saudi influence on US policymakers. Begin to directly confront the Saudi ideological agenda and demand that they be held to account for spreading a destructive ideology.
