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731. Central Asia: Islamists in Prison

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The number of Islamists in Kyrgyz and Kazakh prisons is small but growing, in both size and political significance. Well-organised Islamist proselytisers, mostly imprisoned on charges of religious extremism, are consolidating their position within the informal structures of power behind prison walls. Incarcerating determined activists is providing them with the opportunity to extend their influence among convicts, at first inside prison and then on their release. Problems within jails in Central Asia have been known to seep outside the prison walls; the expansion of radical Islamist thought within prisons is likely to have serious consequences. The paradox of the situation is that, in private at least, political leaders in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are intensely aware that the best way to defeat extremism is to address woeful social and economic conditions, fight the systemic top-to-bottom corruption that besets all the region's regimes, and in the words of one regional leader, “give people a future”.
Topic:
Political Violence, Islam, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Asia, and Kyrgyzstan

732. Sudan: Preventing Implosion

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Sudan is sliding towards violent breakup. The main mechanisms to end conflicts between the central government and the peripheries – the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the Darfur Peace Agreement and the East Sudan Peace Agreement – all suffer from lack of implementation, largely due to the intransigence of the National Congress Party (NCP). Less than thirteen months remain to ensure that national elections and the South Sudan self-determination referendum lead to democratic transformation and resolution of all the country's conflicts. Unless the international community, notably the U.S., the UN, the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the Horn of Africa Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD), cooperate to support both CPA implementation and vital additional negotiations, return to North-South war and escalation of conflict in Darfur are likely.
Topic:
Political Violence, Islam, Peace Studies, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, Middle East, and South Sudan

733. Southern Thailand: Moving towards Political Solutions?

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
On taking office, Thai Prime Min­­ister Abhisit Vejjajiva pledged to reclaim policy on the southern insurgency from the military. But a year of distracting fights between supporters of the establishment and an ousted populist leader has meant little progress in resolving violence in the South. Despite glimpses of new thinking in Bangkok, the weakness of the government and its reliance on the military for political support have meant the top brass still dominates policymaking in the predominantly Malay Muslim South. Harsh and counterproductive laws remain in force and there are no effective checks on abuses by the security forces. Alternative policies have not been seriously explored and, after a temporary reduction in violence in 2008, the attacks are rising again. It is time for the government to follow its words with actions if it wants to move forward with a political solution.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Islam, and Sectarianism
Political Geography:
Asia

734. Jonglei's Tribal Conflicts: Countering Insecurity in South Sudan

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Conflicts among tribes have claimed several thousand lives in South Sudan in 2009, with the worst violence in and around the vast, often impassable state of Jonglei. Violence often afflicts pastoral communities, but in this area it has taken on a new and dangerously politicised character. With the death toll over the past year exceeding that in Darfur and displacement affecting more than 350,000 people, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) should recognise the primarily local nature of the conflicts, extend state authority and prove itself a credible provider of security lest the problems become major obstacles on the road to self-determination and beyond. International partners must simultaneously step up their support or risk seeing the South become increasing unstable ahead of national elections and the self-determination referendum.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Ethnic Conflict, and Islam
Political Geography:
Africa and South Sudan

735. Middle East Democracy Promotion Is Not a One-way Street

Author:
Marina Ottaway
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The U.S. administration is under pressure to revive democracy promotion efforts in the Middle East, but momentum toward political reform has stalled in most of the region. Opposition parties are at low ebb, and governments are more firmly in control than ever. While new forms of activism, such as labor protests and a growing volume of blogging critical of government and opposition parties have become widespread, they have yet to prove effective as means of influencing leaders to change long-standing policies.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and Islam
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arab Countries

736. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Author:
Jean-Pierre Filiu
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, established in January 2007, is the latest in a long line of Algerian jihadi groups. Like many terrorist organizations, AQIM enjoys global media exposure on activist Internet sites, but unlike other al-Qaeda franchises, it has managed to maintain its indigenous leadership. The group has become known for fearsome suicide attacks, which were previously unheard of in Algeria, but has failed to incorporate the jihadi outfits from neighboring Morocco and Tunisia. AQIM has therefore focused on the northern Sahara, carving out safe havens and threatening weak government forces, first in Mauritania, and now increasingly in Mali.
Topic:
Islam, Terrorism, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Algeria, North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Maghreb, and Mauritania

737. Between Government and Opposition: The Case of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform

Author:
Amr Hamzawy
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Like Islamist parties across the Arab world, Yemen's Islamist Congregation for Reform (Islah) has a religious ideology and platform. Islah participates in legal politics in hopes of accomplishing constitutional and socioeconomic reforms, and over time it has committed itself to upholding democratic procedures internally as well as externally.
Topic:
Democratization, Islam, and Governance
Political Geography:
Middle East, Yemen, and Arabia

738. What Accounts for the Success of Islamist Parties in the Arab World

Author:
Michael Robbins
Publication Date:
11-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Islamist organizations are generally considered to be the strongest and most credible opposition to incumbent regimes throughout the Arab world. Fear of Islamic takeovers has led regimes and other outside powers to justify not holding free elections, citing examples that include the Algerian election of 1991, the Iranian Revolution, the AKP victory in Turkey and the perceived popularity of Islamist opposition groups throughout much of the Arab world (Brumberg 2002). Yet, other analysts have questioned the actual strength of Islamist movements within the Arab world, noting that although Islamists may be the main challenger, few have actually been successful in taking power (Roy 1994).
Topic:
Islam and Politics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Arabia, and Algeria

739. Pakistan at the Crossroads

Author:
Yu. Artemov
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
The Islamic Republic of pakistan (IRp) – one of the largest Muslim states (the fifth largest in the world) and the only one that has nuclear weapons – is currently going through what is probably the most difficult period in its history. a combination of the growing terrorist threat, fueled by radical Islamism, Talibanization, ethnic separatism, and financial and economic difficulties has caused a deep, countrywide crisis.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Pakistan

740. Islamic Imperialism: A History by Efraim Karsh

Author:
Andrew Lewis
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Objective Standard
Institution:
The Objective Standard
Abstract:
Since 9/11, cultural critics and religious apologists have argued the question of Islam's militaristic nature: Is Islam inherently violent, or is it a peaceful religion corrupted by today's Islamic terrorists? Efraim Karsh does not argue that Islam is necessarily more inclined to violence than any other religion, or that today's terrorists have perverted Muhammad's message. Rather, he claims, Islamic culture has always been (and potentially always will be) associated with and spread by bloodshed and violence. This, he believes, is less because of the fundamental tenets of Islam than because of the fact that the religion's leaders and adherents have always been motivated by delusions of imperial grandeur achievable only by force. In trying to explain the motivation behind the attacks of 9/11 and the militancy of today's Islamists in general, Karsh documents Islam's history of political violence. He tells the story of Islam, from Muhammad's rise to power in the early 7th century, through the rule by caliphates of the medieval period, through the rise and fall of the Ottomans, up to today's "renewed quest," headed by terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, for a universal Arabic-Islamic empire. In Karsh's view, Islamic violence has always been driven more by political and imperial ambition than by religious fervor. Recounting key aspects of Islamic history, from Muhammad's many raids; through the persecutions, assassinations, and wars of conquest that followed; through the resurgent violence in the last century, Karsh leaves the reader with no doubt that Islam's past and present have been riddled with violence, and that its future likely will be too. Karsh explains that Islam developed on a foundational premise of an "inextricable link between religious authority and political power," established by Muhammad himself (p. 13). What "made Islam's imperial expansion inevitable" is that Muhammad's umma (community of believers) accepted a credo that combined a universal religion with the necessity of territorial conquest to establish political rule to enforce that faith (p. 18). Islamic Imperialism: A History is not a comprehensive or straightforward history of Islamic empires or culture. Rather it is a history of Islamic leaders' dream (Karsh's word) of achieving a global empire and the actions they have taken toward realizing that dream-a dream that, Karsh argues, can never become a reality. . . . To read the rest of this article, select one of the following options:Subscriber Login | Subscribe | Renew | Purchase a PDF of this article
Topic:
Islam