Soldato
I get fed up of people reacting with the same old "big-bad-West" comment. It's short sighted and incredibly ignorant of events that occurred in the ME either much longer ago than modern history, or if more recently, nothing to do with the West at all. I can forgive people for thinking it's all the wests fault, after all, if they're not willing to dig out a book and instead rely soley on the rhetoric that is churned up on the web then what chance do they have of understanding the situation anyway?
First we must acknowledge that Islamism is as much (if not more) a response to the failure of Arab leaders to deliver meaningful outcomes to their people, than it is to any Western intervention. Further, Arab people often lacked opportunities for political participation. Arab citizens therefore turn to mosques as public spaces for political discussion. As a result religion became the language of politics and of political change. Islam is intertwined in their political proceeds. It's like the Catholic church domineering all things political here.
Also, post-colonialism failed Arab middle classes, as the ruling elite continued to hold power and wealth, dictatorships and oppression rules supreme. We had quick economic growth in emerging Gulf states which increased the influence of conservative Muslim governments. At the same time the expansion of the oil-based Gulf economy brought about uneven development, the response to which was growing support for Islamism as a tool of expression for internal grievances (politics).
We must also consider that the effects of cultural erosion and globalisation have resulted in what is pretty much a Muslim identity crisis.
Add to all this civilisations that have experienced large power vacuums and it's somewhat disingenuous and naive to consider the entire situation as a simple as a "West Vs Islam" scenario. That is blinkered.
After this little rant of mine the point has already been quite aptly put..... this guy in the news was from MOROCCO. A westernised and very stable country, close to home and free of this so called Christian Crusade we are apparently conducting across the world right now. To state the Westerners are to blame just doesn't make any sense.
First we must acknowledge that Islamism is as much (if not more) a response to the failure of Arab leaders to deliver meaningful outcomes to their people, than it is to any Western intervention. Further, Arab people often lacked opportunities for political participation. Arab citizens therefore turn to mosques as public spaces for political discussion. As a result religion became the language of politics and of political change. Islam is intertwined in their political proceeds. It's like the Catholic church domineering all things political here.
Also, post-colonialism failed Arab middle classes, as the ruling elite continued to hold power and wealth, dictatorships and oppression rules supreme. We had quick economic growth in emerging Gulf states which increased the influence of conservative Muslim governments. At the same time the expansion of the oil-based Gulf economy brought about uneven development, the response to which was growing support for Islamism as a tool of expression for internal grievances (politics).
We must also consider that the effects of cultural erosion and globalisation have resulted in what is pretty much a Muslim identity crisis.
Add to all this civilisations that have experienced large power vacuums and it's somewhat disingenuous and naive to consider the entire situation as a simple as a "West Vs Islam" scenario. That is blinkered.
After this little rant of mine the point has already been quite aptly put..... this guy in the news was from MOROCCO. A westernised and very stable country, close to home and free of this so called Christian Crusade we are apparently conducting across the world right now. To state the Westerners are to blame just doesn't make any sense.
