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Globalization is a multifaceted and transformative phenomenon that has reshaped societies, economies, and political structures worldwide. Although it is generally recognized with economic relations and technological advances, its impact on cultural and religious identities is also significant. The political role of identity has increased with the impact of globalization on culture and religion.
Throughout history, Islam has played a central role in shaping political and social structures in the Middle East. However, in the 21st century, globalization has created both opportunities and challenges in the Middle East. Globalization dynamics, which have an impact on the interdependence of global economies and relations, have also affected the interaction of Islamic values, institutions, and actors with politics.
These dynamics have become more apparent with the changing world order in the 21st century. Globalization has led to changes in political authorities in Islamic geographies, the rise of Islamic movements beyond borders, and the emergence of religious identities. In this study, we will analyze how globalization affects the political role of Islam in the Middle East and its social and political consequences. In this interaction, we will examine how a deep-rooted system and social structure respond to global trends and the new global order.
Islam has been the center of politics and society in the Middle East for the last 1500 years. The impact of globalization has been seen in the region since the caliphate period when Islam first spread in the region. Religious authorities became the source of political legitimacy. In the colonial periods after the Middle Ages, Islamic movements played important roles in the struggles for independence and within the framework of anti-imperialist ideology. Globalization and modern political understanding have created fundamental changes in the political and sociological structure of Islam. With these effects, new reformist and modernist movements became popular in the Middle East region. The reflections of this were seen in the secularization of the region or the struggles to remain Islamist.
Globalization's economic, technological and cultural developments have had different effects on the Middle East, unlike other geographies. In general, it has increased the interaction of nations across borders on nation states and increased the importance of non-state actors (NGOs and companies). As a result of this increased interaction, living standards have improved and a more democratic and liberal new order has been formed. With increasing globalization in Europe, a new consciousness of unity has been experienced. In other geographies, the struggle of global powers to establish peace in the world and their ability to easily influence all societies has increased.
Its reflections in the Middle East have accelerated the emergence and spread of new ideas in the region, while also strengthening the integration processes into the global economy. However, Middle Eastern societies and governments living isolated from global policies have encountered problems such as social inequalities and the strengthening of authoritarian regimes. With the impact of these dynamics, Arab Nationalism, Westernism, Islamism and Reformist conflicts experienced in the 20th century have gained a new dimension.
In the new world disorder after the Cold War[1], the USA has chosen Islam as its new global rival. In this context, during the period when Islamophobia has risen worldwide, identity conflicts have gained importance and the reconstruction of the political and social structure of the Middle East has come to the fore. The active role and intervention of global powers, especially the USA, in the Iraq, Lebanon and Syria issues has caused the conflicts to spread throughout the region.
For this reason, the “Kurdish Problem” in Northern Iraq has spread to Turkey, Syria and Iran. This problem has become the most intense issue in the region in the last 30 years. The fundamental issue of all four countries has been to solve the Kurdish problem within their borders. This problem creates an identity conflict and sometimes turns into terrorist attacks by opportunistic organizations. The US, Russia and Turkey (one of the main actors in the region) intervene in these terrorist attacks or encourage them.
The US, Israel and European states seeing Iran’s possession of nuclear technology as a threat to their own interests could have created serious problems in the region. However, Iran’s sectarianization of Arab societies in the Middle East through the “Shia sect” and putting them in an identity conflict created a new concern.
Following the invasion of Iraq, radicalization tendencies in the Middle East were worrying authoritarian regimes such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia. At this stage, the societies in the Middle East were tired of decades of war, conflicts and dictatorial regimes. And these popular movements had begun to spread beyond borders.
Before the 21st century, movements like the Muslim Brotherhood expanded their influence through global networks and spread beyond the borders of Egypt to other Islamic geographies. In the countries where the Muslim Brotherhood[2] spread during that period, there was an effort to Islamize the policies of governments. At the same time, with their anti-Western stance, they tried to prevent governments from cooperating with Western countries. Over time, these movements gave way to Radical Islam and Islamic movements rise, especially with the Iranian Islamic Revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood's efforts to protect the line of the Islamic State and increase the welfare of society were abused. Many international Islamic organizations emerged in the 21st century after the Muslim Brotherhood. Especially after the September 11[3] attacks, the ideologies of radical groups spread rapidly through tools such as social media. With the increase in the speed of information flow and interaction between groups, the role of globalization in the rise of Salafi movements can be seen. This situation has led to the acceleration of political and religious radicalization in Islamic governments in the Middle East in the 21st century due to globalization. Especially with the end of the Cold War, the ideological vacuum has increased the political role of Salafi organizations. The spread of social movements based on radicalization and extremism was important for this political structure to change. As a result, the integration of Islam with modern political systems became difficult, and political instability and social conflicts increased.
In the first period of the 21st century, when the spheres of influence of armed groups increased, globalization turned terrorism and extremism into an international issue, and there were changes in the political role of Islam. With terrorism becoming an international issue, the interventions of Western countries also shaped Islamic movements in the Middle East. The fact that each of these groups had different Islamic understandings, sects and political approaches also caused political and social ruptures.
The increase in economic inequalities as a result of globalization deepened in the 21st century and strengthened the political structure of radicalization. At the same time, the great interest in energy resources in the region ensured that other international actors were also involved in the conflict. As a result, conflicts between terrorist organizations, external actors and regional states over energy resources created political instability.
The Arab Spring, which started in Tunisia in 2010 and spread throughout the Middle East, brought about significant changes in the political role of Islam. The spark that started the popular uprisings began when a person criticized the government live on a social media platform and suicide. And this video that spread enabled the masses to oppose authoritarian regimes. Technology, which eliminated borders and created a butterfly effect thanks to globalization, started a new era in the Middle East. As a result of these uprisings, the masses, who used Islamic values as a political goal, demanded democracy.
Especially in Egypt, parties with Islamic roots such as the Muslim Brotherhood came to power with the support of the people. Morsi was the first elected president of Egypt. This process showed the democratization efforts of Islam and the strengthening of Islamist movements. While the Arab Spring increased hopes for democracy in some of the countries it spread to, it resulted in internal conflicts, authoritarian regimes, the rise of terrorist organizations and instability in most of them. While it was claimed that different ideologies, ideas and beliefs would converge and become the same under the influence of globalization, unfortunately this did not happen in the Middle East. Western ideologies that contradicted the Islamic political identity of the Middle East were tried to be imposed. Each state, government and society had a different structure and identity. It was not possible to expect the same things to be applied to each of them and to get the same result. The overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in a short period of time and the return of the authoritarian regime to power showed that this structure could not be destroyed by Western ideologies and democratization. The Baath Regime in Syria became more radical, which continued the conflicts in the country and various organizations came to the scene.
Today, the overthrow of the Assad Regime and the new Sunni Islamic Regime that replaced it will follow a policy that is far from sectarianism and radicalization. In this context, the new period of liberation in Syria also worries other radical and authoritarian Middle Eastern countries. The political role of Islam has been strengthened again and it has given hope that Islamic policies can be implemented again. The most important factor that can ensure political stability in the Middle East is that governments stay away from sectarianism and radicalization, and societies adhere to Islamic and conciliatory approach.
Globalization has led to political consequences and changes in the Islamic world, as well as social consequences. While Islam has become a source of solidarity and identity for societies under the influence of globalization, it has also led to consequences such as the separation and conflict of societies from each other. Globalization has created tension between modern dynamics on the traditional structures of Islam. This shows both Islam's resistance to the modernization process and its struggle to integrate with global trends. The spread of Western-centered ideologies and values has increased identity conflicts in Islamic societies because the traditional Islamic structure cannot reconcile with modern social systems. It is quite difficult to produce an effective solution without understanding the religious, political and ethnic dimensions of the problem in the Middle East. The ideological competition between the USA and Russia and China during the Cold War has been transferred to the Middle East in the 21st century. These ideological competitions have been linked to religion and sects sometimes. For example, the Nusayri origin of the Assad Regime in Syria, which has close ties to Russia, has excluded the Sunni people. The USA, on the other hand, applying a policy as Sunnist that is anti-Iran. The escalating conflict between Palestine and Israel after October 7 has transformed the region into an international faith-based conflict. The international community has reacted to this genocide on a global scale. As a result, global perceptions have changed towards the social and political situation in the region:
“In the United States, there have been reports of academics and journalists facing backlash for criticizing Israel or expressing solidarity with Palestinians. In Europe, several countries have seen debates around the legality and appropriateness of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)[4] movement, which aims to pressure Israel to comply with international law. Some governments have sought to label the BDS movement as anti-Semitic, sparking debates about the line between legitimate political criticism and hate speech.” Taqwa Nedal Abu Kmeil, Al Sharq Strategic Research.
The reformist and revolutionary mindset that comes from the West, institutionally and popularly, was not suitable for the Middle East geography. There are top-down reforms in the Middle East geographies. These reforms are far from institutions and state-centered. The identification of the state and the people with each other keeps the society away from chaos and maintains political stability. However, the top-down reforms seen in Turkey during the Republic period and the institutional reforms experienced in Iran during the Shah's period broke the structure of societies. These reforms eliminated the political role of Islam. The reflections of this situation were seen in the 21st century when people demanded their democratic rights against authoritarian governments. Both Islamization and western-centered democratization efforts show the identity dilemma of societies. In the 21st century, reformist movements coming from the people caused many civil wars and actions. These reforms stemmed from sectarianism in some countries for democratic rights and sectarianism in others. At this point, the most obvious interaction between religion and politics was that the political role of Islam focused on sectarian conflicts and observed democratic rights. At this point, the use of Islam as a tool for political interests is one of the elements that changed the political role of Islam.
Globalization has deepened the identity crisis in the Middle East, and therefore Islam's social solidarity and political stability have gained central importance. Global democratization and liberalization trends spreading around the world have not found a response in the Middle East. The sphere of influence of Islamic movements has increased in the new world order, which has become deterritorialization, especially with social media and digitalization. The simultaneous rise of radicalization and reform demands has created the Middle East conflicts of the 21st century.
The international global system built by the USA starting from the 20th century has created social destructions. These destructions have occurred most fundamentally with the effort to spread democracy in the Middle East. We see that this right is not given to every nation fairly in the context of the principle of self-determination. As Fukuyama said, identities, differences and cultures have been tried to be melted in a single pot.
Whether the political role of Islam will evolve into a more liberal and democratic form under the influence of globalization in the region or whether it will preserve its traditional structure is still a debatable issue. However, apart from these, we can see that radicalization has decreased today. In this direction, the decrease in sectarian conflict will shape the political role of Islam as a unifier. In the religiously based conflict between Palestine and Israel, Islam’s unifying and inclusive policies about all Islamic world will be one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
[1] https://foreignpolicy.org.tr/the-new-world-disorder/
[2] https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/egypts-muslim-brotherhood
[3] After the September 11 attacks, the US saw Islam as a new global rival. In this context, it intervened first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq.
[4] Overview Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality. BDS advocates the simple principle that Palestinians have the same rights as the rest of humanity.
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