The Plight of Islam in Europe

Abstract

With the cold war officially “over,” political scientists are busy setting the stage for the next pattern of conflict. Cold war ideology, best described as “a perpetual war for perpetual peace,” has left an unexpected vacuum in world politics. With the post-cold war world order more unstable and dangerous than at any time since the end of the Second World War, many in the West find themselves struggling with an identity crisis. The golden age that was to arise from the defeat of communism has not come-on either side of the Iron Curtain-and prospects for world peace are more unlikely now than at any time during the cold war. In order to come to terms with this bankruptcy of present-day foreign policy, western society has begun to search for pariahs. As Kunstler observes, “it seems that the American public perennially needs identifiable villains to stimulate its gastric juices.” Consequently, Islam and Muslims have become the latest target. Unlike previous enemies and opponents, which were based on nation-states and stimulated through nationalism and calls for patriotism, today’s “evil empire” is based on civilizations and fueled by racism. According to Huntington, “the fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” Hence Islam is seen as a distinct threat. The cultural fault lines between Islamic civilization and other civilizations around the world, from the Balkans and the bulge of Africa to Central Asia, are considered the most violent and unstable areas on earth. In Huntington’s words, “Islam has bloody borders.”’ Such a view of Islam and Islamic civilization as something cancerous to global stability is a perfect replacement for the former enemy and its ideology: the ex-Soviet Union and communism. Once again, the American (and westem) military-industrial complex can justify the continued need to produce arms while “defense” budgets continue to divert monies from social expenditures. In Europe, as elsewhere, there is a basic misunderstanding of what Islam is and represents. Stereotypes of “Muslim terrorists” have permeated society. Anyone with a beard and/or a dark complexion is often treated as suspect. Muslims are generally seen as fanatics, worshipping the likes of Ayatollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein and wanting nothing more in life than to kill Salman Rushdie. While many Westerners consider Muslims to be fundamentalists, Muslims can view Westerners as being just as ...