The Internationalization of the Political Islamic Threat to the New World Order

Abstract

This paper examines the potential challenge of [slam to the new world order. Since the early 1980s, Islam has been one of the most important concepts to be studied by policy makers, schol­ars, and the media. Most coverage has been dramatic and mis­leading, portraying Islam and Muslims as a threat to the new international order and its stability.' Considering this portrayal, several related aspects are discussed here, such as the recent lit­erature about Islam, the nature of the internationalization of polit­ical Islam, the western perception of Islam and lslamists, the recent changes in political discourse about Islamic revivalism, and finaJJy, the conjunction of this Islamic discourse and western global views and interests. The aim of this paper is threefold: to address the theoretical shortcomings in most of the contemporary literature written on political Islam, to revise negative western images of Islam, and to introduce an alternative and integrated approach for understanding the nature of the recent Islamic revivalism and its effects on the global society and order.