Professional paper
THE STARTING POINT OF POLITICAL ISLAM
Pavle Kalinić
; Ured za upravljanje u hitnim situacijama Grada Zagreba
Abstract
The emphasis put on the differences between Islam and Islamism has an exceptional political importance in today’s international relations. Islamism is primarily the instrumentalization of Islam due to the realization of explicit political goals. In this sense, political Islam is spoken about.The strengthening of Islamism has its historic foundation in which there is an important responsibility towards a chain of Western countries considering their imperialistic past. Therefore, Islamism and its neocolonialist resistance movement had a powerful influence on countries of the West. Islamism has especially grown stronger since the end of the 1960s with the collapse of the ideological concept of Arab nationalism. Just as Islam and Islamism are not synonyms, it is significant to accentuate the distinction between Islamism and terrorism.Certain Islamist groups are undertaking terroristic attacks but they are not prime features of the Islamite movement as a whole. Key aspects which define contemporary meaning and development of Islamism refer to a complex of Arab-Israeli relations, the question of Iran’s Islamic revolution and the totality of geopolitical and other events in Afghanistan. The events and processes which occurred and are continuing across wider areas of Israel, Iran and Afghanistan are implying a strong Islamite component. Also including the influences from other powerful European countries (primarily Great Britain but as well as France, Italy, Russia and others), and the United States of America. In the beginning of the 21st century Islamism has proven itself as a strong political movement throughout the Middle East. About its political affirmation and relationship with the US as a leading world power which has marked the global geopolitical interests, and will depend on political stability in the wider regions of the Middle East and all other African, Asian and European regions in which Islamism poses a real or potential political force. If the policy of the U.S. and its allies with the world of Islam is simply reduced to the strategic aspects (military intervention, creating military outposts and bases, selling weaponry allied Islamic countries, etc.), on the West side of the opposition Islamic circles they will encounter a more severe and greater resistance. Such circumstances are favorable and strengthen Islamist terrorism which has already demonstrated itself not only a regional problem, but as to having a much wider reach and political influence.
Keywords
Israel; Palestine; Iran; Afghanistan; Al Qaida; Muslim Brotherhood; Taliban’s; Islam; Islamism; Terrorism
Hrčak ID:
112880
URI
Publication date:
25.6.2013.
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