Islamic Action Front

Diamond’s third notion came from a variety of political and institutional problems that are one the main obstacles for the Middle East region. For one, these regimes have become extremely adept at repressing anyone who speaks against them within their societies. For another, they have started to use short bursts of political reform to relieve temporary demands for reform while leaving intact executive monopolies over state resources. Further, they efficiently divide opposition parties and civic forces, often by imposing electoral rules and regulations that make it impossible for civil society-which is generally weak and fragmented-to, mount concerted campaigns against the state apparatus. Diamond’s last explanation speaks on the dual issues of Islamism and the Arab-Israeli conflict, and how it plays into each side’s regime survival strategy. Authoritarian incumbents play up the

The actions by JI weakened Indonesian’s democratic right to choose a religion. Although the bombing did not lead to major political change in 2002 and JI has not been an active Islamic terrorist group, they are still a big threat to Indonesia’s democracy. In “ISIS in

When the topic of human rights violations is brought up in regards to the Middle East, it is likely that countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria are among the first to come to mind. Although Jordan does not have nearly as many violations as the aforementioned, several civil liberties are being consistently violated despite the country’s commitment to human rights and national security. Jordan has been one of the steadiest allies of the United States in the fight against terrorism as well as being an advocate for creating and maintaining peace in the Middle East, but what Jordan may be applauded for is also a cause of conflict on the human rights front.

A revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both violent and non-violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab World that began on 18 December 2010, later gained the heading “The Arab spring”. The Arab spring began by a twenty six year old boy named Mohammed Bouazizi was getting ready to sell fruits and vegetables in a rural town of Sidi Bouzid Tunisia. Bouazizi was the primary supporter for his widowed mother and six of his siblings. The entire incident originated when the police officer asked bouazizi to hand over his wooden cart, he refused the police women allegedly slapped him after being publicly humiliated bouazizi marched in front of a government building and set himself on fire. The Jasmine revolution in Tunisia, the shock wave swept across the country which threatened the stability of this oil-rich region with repercussion felt internationally. After the world witnessed what happened in Tunisia, it caused a spilled over into most of the Arab countries. Such as Egypt, Libya Syria and Yemen. Aim of this paper is to show that the current situation corollary of decades of failed policies, exacerbated by an unsolicited foreign intervention. The extensive consequences, I will argue, require cautious attention and careful management from international communities as well as the Arab human rights committee. This paper seeks to explore the profound causes that prompted the so called “Arab awakening” and the covert hidden agenda behind the sudden pro democratic

Nation building and remodeling societies in the Middle East is therefore the wrong policy to pursue, when the West should be minimalizing its visible presence as much as possible. Since Muslim fundamentalism is not the real cause of terrorism, attempting to change these countries will only generate more attacks against the West. Left to their own devices, most of these groups would not attack the U.S. at all, since Hamas and Hezbollah operated mainly in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank, directing almost all of their attention against Israel, while Al Qaeda never launched any attacks against Israel at all, despite its extremely hostile rhetoric against Jews. All of these groups, including the ones funded and inspired by Al Qaeda, are driven by mainly nationalist goals against a foreign military presence and the larger the size of this presence the more attacks it will generate.

The rise of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) in Iraq and Syria has brought the Middle East to the focus of the international concern, especially powers such as America and Russia. This terrorist force has emerged from religious minorities to a considerable organized group of terrorists, carried out brutal attacks at both standing governments and civilians. A number of Muslim youth from different regions have volunteered to join the group, generating numerous security challenges not only to Muslim countries but also various other nations. This essay is aimed at giving an account of the rise of IS, creating a foundation for discussing how the foreign policy of governments should respond. To do this, the emergence of the IS will be briefed

The following thesis adopts a case study methodology, interrogating the nature of the Saudi state in response to the specific event of the Grand Mosque takeover . Through a multifaceted analytical narrative, this paper will study the nature of the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance, focusing on the way in which this symbiotic relationship enabled wide reaching social control during and after the mosque insurgency. Literature on the Grand Mosque takeover has generally limited the event’s significance to a mere illustration of the al-Saud’s instrumentalisation of religion for the purpose of preserving legitimacy . This thesis aims to extend this understanding, by applying a comprehensive social theory framework to the siege. By employing Ian Hurd’s three-tiered framework for social compliance, this thesis will

In the introduction to “Princeton Readings in Islamic Thought” by Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Zaman, the editors give a broad overview of Islamism and what it constitutes as an Islamist. The conclusion the authors come to is that Islamism is a movement that “attempts to return to the scriptural foundations of the Muslim community…” (Euben, Zaman page 4). Essentially, Islamism is a restoration of norms derived from the Quran, called sharia law. As a function of Islam and sharia law, Islamists are very hands on. Islamists like Ruhollah Khomeini and Hassan al-Turabi aren’t mere theologians but politicians that seek fulfillment of their visions. Islamists believe firmly that the only true way to realize their vision of “authentic Islam” is through an Islamic state, dominated by sharia law. Naturally, with the formation of a state, a government is needed to perform a variety of functions. Islamists go as far to say that the only way to achieve true Islam is through an Islamic state dominated by sharia law. (QUOTE?) Thus, Islamism and politics are one in the same, and the Islamism can be seen as a religio-political movement. In the introduction, the editors bring special attention to the relationship between Islamism and democracy. Because of the tenuous and complicated relationship between western secular “democratic” governments and the Islamic state’s theocratic government, the editors pay special attention to

At the same time, for the purpose of using the democratic process as a strategy to implement Shari’a law, the Muslim Brotherhood named its political arm as the Islamic Action Front. Both the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Action Front share a similar base of support and membership. Separation between the two was necessary to allow the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood to maintain its control over social services and spreading dawa’a, while on the other hand provide the Islamic Action Front with the platform to establish a political agenda. Upon submitting the application to the Minister of the Interior, that included the Memorandums of Association, and a list of the founding member names that fulfill the conditions specified by article Five of the Political Parties Law, in December 1992, the Islamic Action Front was officially licensed as a political party. In total, the founding members of the Islamic Action Front consisted of three hundred forty-two “older, established males” and only eleven women. Demographics show a trend of disproportionality between the founding membership and the overall population of Jordan. At the time the Islamic Action Front movement was established, half the population of Jordan was under the age of sixteen. But, out of the three hundred fifty-three founders, “33 percent were professionals, 51 percent were civil servants, and 10 percent were businessmen. Of these same founders, 56 percent were over 41 years old.” Due to lack of

The Arab region has a conspicuous dilemma regarding countries’ inability to develop into democratic nations. One would expect that because of historical events and transformations in government policies that at least a few of the Arab nations would emerge as democracies. And yet, none have been able to do so. There are several factors that may cause this democracy deficit in the region, but one must realize that every country has its own specific and unique case. Arab countries of the Middle East and North Africa have undergone several changes in politics but none that have caused them to transition into democratic states. The Arab world has become a region where corruption and authoritarianism has become the bulking features of politics. Analysts, historians, and political researchers have strived to find a single solution or answer to the puzzle regarding Arab exceptionalism. Arab exceptionalism refers to the current unreachable transition to democratic rule in Arab nations. Every Arab country has a specific reason for its democracy deficit but because all Arab countries have very similar cultural and religious practices and beliefs, analysts tend to seek one feature they all have in common that may be the cause of this lack of democracy.

This week’s readings investigate the rise of Islamic opposition and civic society groups in Egypt, Turkey, and Algeria. In an overarching perspective, the readings contend that the failure of the post-colonial states in providing the public goods and services they were responsible for, as well as their use of Islamist groups in order to crush the leftist opposition, provided political structures of opportunity that the Islamic groups were able to exploit. In addition, the state hostility to civic society Islamic opposition groups, gave rise to militant Islamic groups in some cases. The following paragraphs will provide evidence from the texts to support the above assertions.

Radical Islamic Palestinian nationalist groups, the most prominent of which is Hamas, adamantly resist any concessions to the state of Israel and maintain that the PA should not be negotiating with the Israeli government. While there is little question that Hamas and similar organizations have had both the intent and the effect of erecting impediments on the road to a peace in the Middle East, this paper aims to dispel the notion that Palestinian opposition groups have completely derailed the peace process. Instead, I will argue that the presence of such vehement dissent is a necessary part to a lasting peace accord and to a stable two-state solution, as this intra-party opposition is often the most difficult hurdle to surmount for a national liberation movement that is attempting to rise to state power. To be clear, I argue that a critical first step to running a peaceful democratic state, before territory or infrastructure, is to pacify radical parties in a non-dictatorial fashion; a process by which a new political regime proves itself capable of state governance by tying together the moderate with the extreme.

The Arab Spring has been a life changing phenomena, not only for the people who are attempting to overthrow their governments but for political scientists everywhere. The events originating in the North African country of Tunisia have led to the snowballing of several other Middle Eastern, predominantly Muslim, nation states. The figurative breaking point might have finally been reached as the oppressed peoples of the Middle East have risen up to overthrow long-standing dictatorial governments in hopes of revolutionary change; change that is subject to the will of the people.

Over the last century, the Middle East has been the location of ethnic rivalry, political and economic instability, religious conflict, territorial dispute and war. Much of this tension in the Middle East comes from the various interpretations of Islam and how the religion should be applied to politics and society. Over the last ten years, the United States and their allies have pushed to promote democracy in the Middle East. However, they too have many obstacles they must overcome. They face problems such as the compatibility of Islamic law and democracy, the issue of women’s rights, and there is always the problem of how to go about implementing a democratic reform in these countries. Many initially would assume that it is only the

Inked weekly by many “brave” columnists of the English-language press, theirs is a revolution hellbent on destroying the “Islamist” status quo. Since I am a card-carrying coward, I will stick to mundane facts.