Excerpt coming from Article Review:
Terry Proctor of Kansas Express University was published inside the peer-Reviewed Journal of Tactical Security this year.
The point of the article is not so much posing a question but offering a proposal. The proposal is provided to the United States, recommending in strong terms how the United States (and presumably their allies) could and should take part in “mass politics” which Proctor calls “war without violence” (Proctor, 2012, 47). The theme of this article is the impressive transformation which has taken place in Arab countries (called the “Arab Spring”) such as Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya and elsewhere at the center East.
The hypothesis / thesis and central debate is very clearly stated in this piece. The thesis is usually that the United States needs a new strategy for persuading the Muslim community “to reject the salafist jihadism idea” without further exacerbating the tensions that already are present between the Western and the Muslim world (Proctor, 48). This kind of thesis is founded on the fact that subsequent to September 11, 2001, the United States (under the government of George W. Bush) launched a “War on Terror” and yet ten years later the “war” is not won, and fact even if the U. S. provides killed numerous leaders in the jihadist movements (including bin Laden), American can’t destroy every major Islamic partisan that would like to bring death to the Western world.
“The United States has failed to eradicate the threat of salafist jihadism, ” Proctor explains on page 48. Notwithstanding the West’s rhetoric against terrorism, it would be impossible intended for the U. S. To “kill the way to victory through this war” as there is “simply no government to force to capitulate”; elizabeth. g., the terrorists are mobile and never affiliated with any state, per se (Proctor, 48).
In determining what the “Salafist Jihadism” can be, Proctor basically gives good quality examples of why many Muslims are irritated at the West, in particular younger men which can be perhaps attempting to make a great living and are influenced by radical, hateful rhetoric of Islamic foncier. On page 49 Proctor points out that the “great powers of Europe eventually carved up and colonized the Arabic world” in the late 19th hundred years and in the 20th 100 years. During the United kingdom domination of Sudan back in the 19th 100 years the word “ista’mar” emerged amongst Muslims; this meant “to colonize” or perhaps “to exploit” (Proctor, 49).
After Universe War My spouse and i the Western world seized and exploited Arab territories (Iran, Iraq, amongst others) and this bitterness continues today up against the West. Many young Muslims have rebelled against their particular governments (this relates to the Arab Spring) because that they see their governments are backed by Western power, army weapons and money. Then when the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in 1979, the “salafism” continued underneath bin Laden. What is salafism? Proctor writes (51) it is an ideology, “an idea that has broken up a global movement, ” a movement the U. T. cannot wipe out because “an idea can simply be defeated simply by another thought, ” certainly not by weapons, whether they always be drone plane shooting missiles or automatic rifles carried by troops in Afghanistan (Proctor, 51).
Jihadism as well as the Salafi Jihad
Professor David Cook with Rice College or university (writing inside the peer-reviewed Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions) explains the Jihad since having 3 categories, depending on the original definitions in the Qur’an. There is the jihad of the side (or the sword), “which is army in nature, ” Cook explains (Cook, 2009, s. 178). There exists jihad “.. of the tongue, which engaged the reproof of an unjust ruler or corrupt society”; and the third jihad was jihad “of the soul, developed mainly by the Sufis”; this jihad involved waging an “internal struggle against one’s reduce soul” (Cook, 178). Over time jihad is now used by résistant to describe the targets they wish to kill; jihad can mean “beheading, kidnapping plus the mutilation of bodies” (Cook, 185). Therefore basically extremist Muslims have got grabbed a phrase through the Qur’an and turned that into a phrase that determines enemies being attacked and killed – like the U. S. And the UK.
Concerning Salafi Jihad, Assaf Moghadam explains in a blog for the Harvard University website it is an “ideology” (Proctor telephone calls it a great “idea”) (Moghadam, 2008, l. 1). The Salafi Jihad “identifies the alleged supply of the Muslims’ conundrum inside the persistent problems and embarrassment of Muslims” that occurred during the Crusades (Moghadam, s. 1). Moreover, Moghadam points out that Salafi Jihadists “present a program of action, particularly jihad, which is understood in military terms” (p. 2).
Salafi jihadists believe that jihad will “reverse the wave of history and redeem adherents of Salafi-Jihadist ideology using their misery” and martyrdom is usually held up high as the “ultimate manner in which jihad can be waged” and therefore the approval for the bloody suicide attacks against the West. Salafi jihadists likewise “openly justify the getting rid of of people, including Muslims, under a reasoning of the ends justifying the means” (Moghadam, p. 3).
FOUR: Is actually the author (Proctor) has presented worthy story and believable? Yes Proctor has strike the fingernail on the mind when it comes to a technique that would are more effective for the us than trying to identify the leaders of militant Islam and try to eliminate them. For example on web pages 51-52 the author points out which the regimes which were overthrown in the Arab Planting season offers an opportunity “to build national anti-salafist jihadist movements – with influence – within the federal government, the press, and the people of their respective countries. “
The U. S. govt could help create these fresh national actions in the countries where dictators have been trashed of workplace. In Egypt, or Tunisia, or Libya, Proctor continues (52), the U. S i9000. could use diplomatic and intelligence to identify and contact the individuals who are leading anti-salafist jihadist movements. As soon as contacted, the U. T. could use “a combination of funds and recommended access to U. S. representatives and business opportunities” in order to empower these folks (Proctor, 52). Actually, the U. H. intelligence community may well already be doing what Proctor suggests albeit which is not known publicly right now.
FIVE: The study is definitely not one of a kind other than it is rather recent and it sees the problem that the U. S i9000. And the Western world faces vis-a-vis the “war on terror” which is unwinnable. There are myriad scholarly content articles available that relate to the West as well as the angst experienced Muslims as a result of history of the repression that Muslim countries have endured because of the Western world.
SIX: the key points in the following paragraphs are: a) the U. S. are not able to “kill the way to victory inside the war on terrorism”; b) the Arab Spring has shown that Muslim residents by the large numbers have gone up up against oppressive regimes – against horrific odds occasionally – and compelled political adjustments; c) the true enemy the fact that West identifies as “terrorist” is related to salafist jihadism; it is an idea, or perhaps an ideology, depending on which author describes it, nonetheless it will not be simple to kill mainly because you can’t get rid of an idea with weapons and violence; d) understanding salafist jihadism is definitely the first step to coming to terms with this, and many on the western part of the country have no clue what salafist jihadism really represents; and e) there are ways that the Western world could infiltrate these Arab Spring nations around the world and find anti-salafist jihadism commanders, support them, encourage them and show all of them that the U. S. fundamentally has great intentions.
SEVEN: Proctor would not reference books to any great degree. This individual references the Qur’an and a book (“Signposts along the Road”) by Sayyid Qutb, yet basically this individual presents Middle Eastern background the history from the Islamic radicalism that pertains to the terrorist attacks within the U. H. And other European nations.
EIGHT: The author in this article does a fine job of presenting the material; it is more narrative-based than based on data but this individual deftly explains the realities in the Middle East in terms of the total failure in the U. T. To bring a finish to the terrorism. There will always be fresh young adepte leaders to rise up when the American rhyme planes get rid of existing militants in leadership position. Hence the point is usually, win the war without violence; that is certainly, the U. S. should certainly see the opportunity now to turn into friendly and supportive while using citizens in Egypt, Libya and other nations where the Arab Spring occurred; especially the individuals that are in opposition to the continuing use of physical violence, suicide problems and are interested in an anti-salafist jihad movements.
NINE: You will discover variables mentioned in Proctor’s article. As an example the salafist jihadism is not a regional trouble, rather it is an “international political problem” specifically because: a) it “empowers the motion, al-Qaeda, to act as a harmful independent, non-state actor around the international stage”; b) this provokes a “violent response from the Western. Salafist Jihadism is a “social problem” mainly because “it encourages a chaotic, nihilistic, clandestine subculture that threatens interpersonal order both equally inside and out of doors the Muslim world” (Proctor
