The Plight of Islam in Europe

Abstract

With the cold war officially “over,” political scientists are busy setting
the stage for the next pattern of conflict. Cold war ideology, best described
as “a perpetual war for perpetual peace,” has left an unexpected vacuum
in world politics. With the post-cold war world order more unstable and
dangerous than at any time since the end of the Second World War, many
in the West find themselves struggling with an identity crisis. The golden
age that was to arise from the defeat of communism has not come-on
either side of the Iron Curtain-and prospects for world peace are more
unlikely now than at any time during the cold war. In order to come to
terms with this bankruptcy of present-day foreign policy, western society
has begun to search for pariahs. As Kunstler observes, “it seems that the
American public perennially needs identifiable villains to stimulate its
gastric juices.” Consequently, Islam and Muslims have become the latest
target.
Unlike previous enemies and opponents, which were based on
nation-states and stimulated through nationalism and calls for patriotism,
today’s “evil empire” is based on civilizations and fueled by
racism. According to Huntington, “the fault lines between civilizations
will be the battle lines of the future.” Hence Islam is seen as a distinct
threat. The cultural fault lines between Islamic civilization and other civilizations
around the world, from the Balkans and the bulge of Africa to
Central Asia, are considered the most violent and unstable areas on
earth. In Huntington’s words, “Islam has bloody borders.”’ Such a view
of Islam and Islamic civilization as something cancerous to global stability
is a perfect replacement for the former enemy and its ideology: the
ex-Soviet Union and communism. Once again, the American (and westem)
military-industrial complex can justify the continued need to produce
arms while “defense” budgets continue to divert monies from
social expenditures.
In Europe, as elsewhere, there is a basic misunderstanding of what
Islam is and represents. Stereotypes of “Muslim terrorists” have permeated
society. Anyone with a beard and/or a dark complexion is often treated as
suspect. Muslims are generally seen as fanatics, worshipping the likes of
Ayatollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein and wanting nothing more in life
than to kill Salman Rushdie. While many Westerners consider Muslims to
be fundamentalists, Muslims can view Westerners as being just as ...