The enemy of my enemy is my friend

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

The purpose of the term paper is to evaluate your competence in applying theoretical constructs and approaches in the study of world politics to the analysis issues, processes, and events in the Middle East.

In pursuing their ideological and economic agenda in the Middle East the Western powers have undermined the people most likely to support the creation of progressive elite within Islam. Instead the West has sided with the reactionary and regressive forces of fundamentalist Islam. By turning a wilful blind eye to Saudi and Pakistani (and Indonesian) funding and military support of such forces, and by funding them themselves, they have allowed these forces to grow in strength. The secular forces that may have been able to successfully counter the growth of radical Wahhabi and Deobandi activists have been weakened. This is a problem that will haunt the West for a good decade or more.

It is unlikely that a secure and stable regime will replace Saddam's Stalinist inspired dictatorship. The country is divided by competing ethnic and religious groups, the Kurds to the north, the Shia to west and rival tribal groups elsewhere. Saddam has kept the country united by a system of savage repression. In the vacuum that his removal creates there is likely to be a power struggle. It may easily become like Afghanistan where a shaky peace is maintained by dent of American intervention. But does America have the resolve for a long-term commitment? Can the Western alliance afford to rebuild two shattered nations?

And if they then turn on Saudi Arabia and the house of Saud falls, what then replaces it? All of this is likely to destabilise the region further and alienate even more of the youth of the region. And to whom can they turn? A strong educated elite or a reactionary group of Wahhabi clerics?

The two groups that have been the most ideologically shaken by the tragedy of 9/11 have been moderate Muslims and the progressive elites. Both have had some of their central beliefs challenged.

Moderate Muslims have responded to the events with denial. It was a widespread belief amongst many that the Israeli secret service were behind the attacks. Some versions even include the CIA. Somehow it could not be believed that the religion of peace and tolerance could harbour such violent tendencies. Of course, an objective reading of Islamic history soon dispels such romantic mythologising. After all, Mohammed was engaged in the violent defeat of the native pagan religion of the Arab tribes and the expansionist period of Islam involved the usual violent suppression of conquered peoples. Many Muslims have now had to confront a different reality.

The attack has also caused the progressive elite to question their belief in cultural relativism and multiculturalism. The impulse towards destratification often involves the simplistic assumption that the marginalised are only the 'victims' of oppression. It is then argued that if you remove the means of oppression the victims will become empowered ...