What is the Future of Islamic Fundamentalism and how the might the West deal with it?

An Essay by Snop

Before answering the question, I would like to digress some and consider some significant factors that are forcing the issue of Islamic Fundamentalism upon Europe at this point in time. Then I will compare how the United States and Israel are dealing with these same factors. My analysis of these factors will be used to construct my prediction of the future of Islamic Fundamentalism and how the West might deal with it.

As we have seen through our studies, the phenomenon of Islamic Fundamentalism has ebbed and flowed throughout history. To paraphrase the tag line used by the blog site Gates of Vienna “…. We are in a new phase of a very old war.”

This war or Clash of Civilizations, to borrow from Huntington, is much different than those between Islam and non-Muslims in the past. There are no standing army’s waiting to fight one another across the verdant rolling countryside of Tours France or the dry dusty open spaces near the Horns of Hattin in the Holy land. Today the threat is more insidious, ambiguous and random—it comes from within and not from without.

This threat manifests itself in many ways, one being through the demographic growth imbalance between non-Muslims and Muslims, especially within Europe and their lack of assimilation into the wider European society. Muslim birthrates far exceed those of non-Muslim European women. Compounding the imbalance, unchecked immigration from North Africa and Southwest Asia further increases the recruiting pool for Muslim Fundamentalists. This process is shifting the demographic/political weight from non-Muslim Europeans toward Muslims. A point clearly made by the recent display of fealty toward Islam by the BBC as it appointed its first Muslim as head of religion for its public media conglomerate.

Muslim immigration and higher birthrates by itself are not a threat. There is a need for workers to support Europe’s lavish social benefit programs and with the drop in birthrates the governments of Europe must look outward for the labors. The problems begin with the lack of assimilation of Muslims into Europe. Instead of blending into the milieu of cultures that make up Europe, they form tight cohesive groups separated and isolated from the world around them.

This separation leads to discrimination and helps push many disaffected Muslim youths into crime and the arms of the Fundamentalists. According to the May 16th, 2009 issue of the Economist, of the 63,000 prisoners in France, a number that has jumped by 30% since 2000, over half are Muslim. Given this sharp increase in prisoners, there are still very few Muslim chaplains to tend to the needs of these individuals. One could make the case that this enables the more extreme voices to influence and radicalize those already marginalized by society.

As the numbers of Fundamentalists escalate, so does the demand that Sharia Law be used to govern their daily lives. This in turn is leading to the formation of a separate legal system within Europe. By submitting to these demands, countries like England, France and others enable Fundamentalists to create a state with in a state. Furthermore, Fundamentalists are demanding special treatment and respect for their beliefs, while suppressing those of the non-Muslim majority. This has led to wide-spread suppression of freedom of expression of non-Muslims due to the fear of reprisal from Fundamentalists.

Given these factors, it is possible to envision the uneven growth of Islamic Fundamentalism throughout the West; uneven because Western nations choose to deal with Islamic Fundamentalism in disparate ways. How they choose to deal with Fundamentalism will determine their futures. Where there is resistance, Fundamentalism may stay in check or be slowed. Where it finds a path of least resistance, Islamic Fundamentalism, like water, will pour in and flood the land.

I submit that the amount of resistance a country or people will assert in the future is a function of its collective past and its response to perceived threats i.e. the dilution of its culture. When pressured, it is human instinct to look to the past for strength. Fundamentalists epitomize this very fact today. In the not so distant future, the West may do the same. In short, that is why the struggle between Islam and the West is cyclical.

This cycle may begin to reverse when the pressure from the Fundamentalists reaches a tipping point. At this juncture, the West may begin to reflect upon its identity, its symbols and its collective history for strength and answers. Those nations with an inherently strong identity and a sense of history will fare better those devoid of these unifying characteristics.

Consider the American reaction to 9/11. On an emotional level the attacks warranted the overwhelming use of force to crush our perceived enemies and make them pay for attacking our country. One only needs to remember the days following the attacks to see the outpouring of nationalism that bordered on religiosity. The symbols of our Union where everywhere, Flags were flying from businesses, homes and from the windows of passing cars. Americans dug deep into their past and conjured up the day of infamy when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Our past became our guide for the future. We were reminded daily that the greatest generation faced war and death in the past and we like them would triumph. Our reaction toward our Muslim population was muted. There were a number of random attacks but no real inter-communal violence erupted. There was a certain amount of wariness but as a nation we strove to cope with it. Muslims have integrated much more into society in America than in Europe. More Muslims in this country consider themselves Americans first and Muslims second. In Europe the opposite is true-Muslim first Dutch, English, German second.

At this point it may also be pertinent to consider Israel. No other nation has been under the sustained existential threat by Muslim Fundamentalists than the Jewish state. They have fought numerous wars against the surrounding Muslim countries and continue to battle state sponsored terror groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah. Collectively, the Israelis have a solid sense of identity formed over thousands of years of persecutions and pogroms. They rally around their common religion and the symbols of their nation. These things have hardened their resolve to resist the onslaught of the Fundamentalists. Their shared history is also their guide for the future.

Unlike the Europeans, the Israelis are not facing the same internal demographic issue that Europe is experiencing. They maintain a sustainable birthrate relative to their Muslim minority and only allow Jews to settle in Israel. The real issue comes from the Palestinians right to return. If granted, the influx of thousands of Palestinian refugees would overwhelm the Jewish state.

In conclusion, I believe those countries that are mindful of the place that Muslims occupy in their societies and also possess a strong sense of history and pride can deter the insidious envelopment of Islamic fundamentalism. In the future, this might also serve the purpose of preventing a violent backlash against Muslim citizens and the resulting cycle of crusade and counter crusade.