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British cartographers drawing maps in tuned to imperial expediency as opposed to say, those of T. E. Lawrence which were along more ethnic and religious lines?
Is the west to blame for desire to return to fundamentalist or radical Islamic rule by many in the Middle East? I suspect the west has a hand in it but there seems to have always been a rejection of western ideals for far longer than just in the past 100 years.
Good thoughts, but I disagree with you based on this: You're assuming that the average middle eastern citizen is a radical or fundamentalist Muslim which isn't true. A simple trip to Lebanon, Baghdad (pre-Invasion) or Tehran will greet you with citizens who are VERY Western. There is an ideal here in the U.S. that these places aren't secular and that just isn't true. You don't see everyday life on FX or CNN - you see newsworthy topics.
But to your point, the reason fundamentalist Islam appears more pliable in a modern Middle Eastern world is exactly that: I'm not attempting to blame anyone involved but it's a political attempt to turn to economic goodness (and much of that can be blamed on the West). For instance, between the mid-late 1950's and the late 1970's, Iran's economy was garbage, they'd been ransacked by Britain and the U.S., they were facing a new regime next door which threatened them -- most citizens were stricken with poverty and they really had no future as a power in the world. It's things like these that brought the fundamentalist revolution (1979) to term --
You may or may not agree with me on my following assertion, but I feel even here in the U.S. when a person has hit rock bottom, both financially and otherwise, that they turn to anything for better luck -- and often times religion gives them the hope to carry on. Same type of logic.
We can agree or disagree on that, it's an idea ... but don't have this idea that the average citizens are hating the West because Ahmadinejad decries them. Granted, there is still very much distaste (mostly among the ages of 30+) for the coup in 1953 of Mossadeq, but when teenagers rebel against their parents, they're wearing blue jeans, watching American films, and listening to American music, etc.
Good thoughts, but I disagree with you based on this: You're assuming that the average middle eastern citizen is a radical or fundamentalist Muslim which isn't true. A simple trip to Lebanon, Baghdad (pre-Invasion) or Tehran will greet you with citizens who are VERY Western. There is an ideal here in the U.S. that these places aren't secular and that just isn't true. You don't see everyday life on FX or CNN - you see newsworthy topics.
But to your point, the reason fundamentalist Islam appears more pliable in a modern Middle Eastern world is exactly that: I'm not attempting to blame anyone involved but it's a political attempt to turn to economic goodness (and much of that can be blamed on the West). For instance, between the mid-late 1950's and the late 1970's, Iran's economy was garbage, they'd been ransacked by Britain and the U.S., they were facing a new regime next door which threatened them -- most citizens were stricken with poverty and they really had no future as a power in the world. It's things like these that brought the fundamentalist revolution (1979) to term --
You may or may not agree with me on my following assertion, but I feel even here in the U.S. when a person has hit rock bottom, both financially and otherwise, that they turn to anything for better luck -- and often times religion gives them the hope to carry on. Same type of logic.
We can agree or disagree on that, it's an idea ... but don't have this idea that the average citizens are hating the West because Ahmadinejad decries them. Granted, there is still very much distaste (mostly among the ages of 30+) for the coup in 1953 of Mossadeq, but when teenagers rebel against their parents, they're wearing blue jeans, watching American films, and listening to American music, etc.
Actually I do not assume that even the bulk of the Islamic world is radicalized but there are areas, large groups and sects that certainly are. Lebanon with its large Christian population and even Iran's fairly diverse population that has one of the worlds largest Jewish populations. Even places like Jordan are reasonably moderate and contain a great deal more western influence.
As someone who is less interventionist minded, I look towards the writings and history of Said Qutb for one of the best examples of why and how the rise of contemporary radical Islam came to fruition. This rejection of both all things liberalized and the use of religious and cultural differences to further exploit and inflame western intervention in the Middle East. His views apparently began as distaste for America but were cemented when the US supported Egyptian government began to use harsh methods to quash the Muslim brotherhood. From here, distaste emerged as hatred.
I would even go so far as to speculate that given a generation without conflict or direct military intervention by the US or the west, that much of the youth in the Islamic world would naturally gravitate towards a westernized culture as it is indeed very alluring. (just ask the Japanese and Chinese) I believe that our antagonism of the general Muslim world is a greater cause for radical Islam than if we were to address specific aspects of it, such as the Taliban.
Asked if she saw any evidence of the surge’s positive impact on her May 17 trip to Iraq she responded:
"Well, the purpose of the surge was to provide a secure space, a time for the political change to occur to accomplish the reconciliation. That didn’t happen. Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians-they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities-the Iranians."
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