[lit-ideas] Re: Victor Hanson in Iraq
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:03:08 -0800 (PST)
--- Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The Civilization is called "Islamic" not "Arabic."
> Any nation in the Middle
> East is going to have a problem becoming the Core
> State. No Arab state is
> up to it.
*Actually, it is interesting that whenever an Arab
state had ambitions to become 'the core state,' it
quickly found itself at war with either the US or
Israel. This happened to Egypt when it had pan-Arabist
ambitions under Nasser, and to Iraq in 1990. Right now
Syria seems to represent a threat.
So what non-Arab state is a candidate.
> The most powerful are
> Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia. Huntington speculated
> about which nation it
> might be. I have speculated from time to time. I am
> not the first to
> mention Iran, but in the current context one can
> envision by which Iran
> could become the Core State.
*I am not sure what you are saying here. Iran, as a
predominantly Shiite and non-Arab state, stands little
chance of becoming a core state in the Muslim world or
even in the Arab Middle East. However, Teheran might
be able to exercise influence in Iraq, Lebanon, and
perhaps some other countries with Shiite minorities.
That seems enough to get the US extremely worried.
> The majority of the Muslims in the Middle East are
> Fundamentalist in my
> opinion -- an opinion based upon the prevalence of
> Fundamentalist speeches
> and writing coming out of the Middle East and that
> absence of moderate
> writings and speeches.
*I don't share your impression at all. Mine, from
reading their newspapers, is that is there is plenty
of *secular* discourse coming out of the Middle East.
There is also plenty of political positions that I
would consider moderate, i.e. more sympathetic to the
US policies than, say, mine. Perhaps the
Fundamentalism or moderation is in the eye of the
beholder.
That said, certainly the Islamist movements have
gained in popularity in the recent years, due to the
(correct) perception that the current secular regimes
are weak, incompetent, undemocratic and corrupt. This
phenomenon however has also been accompanied by the
Islamists' moving toward more moderate positions.
I never said that all
> Muslims in existence were
> Fundamentalist. I just don't know, and neither do
> you. None of us has that
> information because no one has the freedom to go in
> to all the Muslim
> nations to find out.
*Actually, it is possible to visit almost all Muslim
nations, as far as they are concerned.
O.K.
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