Globalization,
Multi-lateralism and the Islamic World
An
Assessment of the Multi-lateral Responses of the Islamic World to
Globalization
The
Islamic world has responded to the globalizing changes at
inward-oriented and outward-oriented levels. At the first level the
OIC, the main inter-governmental institution of the Islamic world
brought about some significant changes in its agenda and attempted
to establish a dialogue with the West. Some governmental and
non-governmental institutions were established, such as the
Developing-8 Group, and the World Populist Islamic Command. Finally,
at the second level, some Islamic states joined other multi-lateral
globalizing institutions with a view of benefiting from them.
Although
these achievements have increased the ability of the Islamic world
to cope partially with some aspects of globalization, they have not
been effective in bringing about a qualitative change in such
ability. This is essentially because of various variables, (i) the
Islamic world is not a homogeneous entity. It is divided along
virtually all socio-economic and political lines of comparison
including religious ones. It lacks a center of gravity that could
define the main courses of action, (ii) the Islamic world is deeply
penetrated by powers of globalization. The economies and security
models of the Islamic world are mostly influenced by the agenda of
the Western powers, (iii) the weakness of most of state institutions
of many Muslim countries, limit their ability to comprehend global
changes and their impacts on them, save for devising strategies to
deal with them. This is essentially because; all Islamic states are
newly independent states, and the economies of most of them are
quite weak and (iv) rivalries and conflicts among Islamic states
over regional leaderships, and territorial issues. This variable is
acutely clear in the case of the Islamic states in West Asia.
In
judging the performance of the Islamic countries, one must take into
consideration these variables, and more importantly, the fact that
most of the Islamic countries have gained independence after the
Second World War. One cannot compare the performance of the Islamic
countries with that of the European countries. In the area of
integration as the latter have a three centuries of history behind
them in state building and development.
Nevertheless,
the Islamic countries can enhance their ability to deal with the
forces of globalization by upgrading their multi-lateral
institutions, namely the OIC along the lines mentioned earlier. The
Islamic world needs to think about establishing multi-lateral
security regimes, and strengthening its conflicts resolving
mechanisms. Linkages between various Islamic multi-lateral
institutions should be established. There is nothing in principle
against the multiplicity of institutions. The main problem is not
multiplicity, but competition, which could lead to the canceling out
of the achievements of one institution by the actions of another.
One should think about modalities of relations between the OIC and
D-8 Group. The Islamic countries also need to develop their paradigm
for civilizational dialogue and expand the dialogue to include all
Islamic countries. In this respect, the attack on Islamic and Asian
(virtually all non-Western) values deserves significant attention
from Islamic multi-lateral institutions.
The
Islamic world does not need more multi-lateral institutions to
enhance its ability to cope with globalization. What is needed in
the commitment to energizing the present institutions, coordinate
their activities, and assess the correlates of the success of other
multi-lateral institutions, such as the ASEAN in which Islamic
states are represented. What also is needed is to attempt. In this
area, Malaysia can serve as a link between ASEA and the Islamic
countries by communicating the successful models adopted in ASEAN to
the Islamic world. Finally, Islamic countries need to coordinate
their efforts to face the tremendous task of reforming global
multi-lateral institutions and steering them towards serving its
interests.
Mohammad
El-Sayed Selim is a Professor
of Political Science, Director of the Center for Asian
studies, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo
University, Giza, Egypt.
E-mail: mohammedselim@hotmail.com
