MEAJ: Will there be room for Islamic governments in the region if groups, such as those in Algeria and Tunisia, come to power; and how vehemently, if at all, will Western nations oppose such forms of rule?
Zartman: The question of an Islamic government is complex. To take the last part of your question first, there are plenty of governments which call themselves Islamic (to avoid getting into the debate as to whether they are Islamic or not) in countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and so on, who cooperate amicably with the West. There are other movements which call themselves Islamic which would certainly bring calls for a Western intervention, or direct opposition, if they came to power. The West, it must be remembered, does not go around telling people who should govern them, nor intervene at random in other countries affairs. It deals with other countries, often with a position of strength, but the idea that it can dictate governments is a far-fetched version of unrealistic conspiracy thinking. You then ask if there is room for an Islamic government. If there is popular support for an Islamic government, it will doubtless come to power, and then face challenges which are in no way Islamic, and for which no religious doctrine prepares it to meet. Religion is a personal matter, with social implications as groups of religious individuals get together, but there is no religious doctrine?Christian, Muslim or any other that provides answers to the question of unemployment, nuclear proliferation or efficient civil service, to name just three questions of modern government. At best, it can provide people with a sense of dedication and devotion that will make them less corrupt, more committed to serving their population and more humble to their fellow men. There is indeed room for that kind of government.
Cantori: There is room for Islamic governments in the Middle East, but these must be governments of toleration; ones which accept political pluralism without, however, necessarily accepting the principles of Western political liberalism. Islam must find the political tolerance and the acceptance of political pluralism within its own rich teachings.
MEAJ: Many have said that the Islamic revival is a phase similar to the Arab nationalism espoused by Gamal Abdel Nasser and will fade in time. Is this a fair analysis of the situation and what elements will determine the movement's perpetuation or decline?
Zartman: The interesting thing is that the current Islamic revival is quite similar in many ways to the Arab nationalism led and encouraged by Gamal Abdel Naser. It draws on the same types of populations, people uprooted and disfavored by modernization, who are looking for an anchor of faith and stability and a simple guide to success in the modern world. On the other hand, it will not fade with time in quite the same way that Naser's Arab socialism has done (although we will see later revivals of Naserism in different forms). There is a basic current of religion that will continue, even when it is not at the political forefront. Thus, faith in the Islamic religion is not likely to fade away with time, even thought its political manifestations might, only to return at a later date [see Butterworth, Charles E., and I. William Zartman, special eds. Political Islam. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 524 (November 1992)]. Muslim and particularly Arab populations seek a new synthesis between what is authentically national and what is successfully modern.
Cantori:The Islamic revival is an historical phase. What its limits are, and when it might become less prominent, is of course unknown. It is striking, however, that if 1967 represents its beginning, then it has already exceeded the time periods of earlier ideologies. It is important to appreciate that a distinction needs to be made between Islamism as a politically ascending phenomenon and the Islamic revival as an intensification of and recommitment to the revealed truths of religion. The latter is literally transcendental, spiritual and enduring.
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