Mares

Mares, Politologia; Polityka

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//-->INTERDISCIPLINARY POLITICAL AND CULTURAL JOURNAL, Vol. 17, No. 1/2015109–118, DOI: 10.1515/ ipcj-2015-0008INTERNATIONAL STUDIESMiroslav Mares*stRAteGIes oF IslAMIst eXtReMIsM In euRoPe**2ABstRACt:This paper explains various strategies of contemporary Islamists ex-tremism in Europe. The author identifies the most important variants of Islamistextremism and deals with their goals and with strategic approaches how to achievethese goals�½ Quasi-legalist strategies as well as violent forms of interest-empow-erment are described�½ The author uses sources from various Islamist organiza-tions and analyses these materials within the framework of modern insurgency�½A comprehensive outlook and threat assessment of Islamist extremist strategiesare included in this article�½Key woRDs:Islamist Extremist; strategy; Europe; political violence; InsurgencyIntroductionContemporary Europe is facing a rise of Islamist extremism�½Various strategies are used by Islamist extremists to underminethe legal and societal order of European democratic constitution-al states�½ The aim of this article is to identify the most importantstrategies of contemporary Islamist extremism in Europe�½ Previoustypologies of insurgency (Merari) and categories elaborated byGerman “theoreticians of extremism” are used as an analyticalframework (Jesse & Thime)�½Extremism is in this article understood as an anti-thesis ofdemocratic a constitutional state�½ It includes intolerant approachesFaculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University, Joštova 10, 602 00Brno, Czech Republic, mmares@fss�½muni�½cz**Acknowledgements: This contribution was prepared as part of the re-search project “Methods of Predicting Long-term Geopolitical Development inCentral Europe – VF20102015005,” funded by the Ministry of Interior of theCzech Republic*[109]110Miroslav Marestowards other political and religious beliefs and the leaders andactivists of which struggle to establish dictatorship�½ Islamist ex-tremism is a part of religious extremism based on intolerant sover-eignty of religion�½ Islamist extremism uses in political and societalsphere the principles and values from Islamic religion, which areincompatible with the values and democratic character of modernWestern democracies. The final goal is to establish and developa caliphate or other state form based on this non-democratic useof Islamic religion and its political dimension�½ The achievement ofthese goals is carried out by various actors (from the point of viewof political strategies and tactics as well as from the point of view ofsub-confessions of Islam) (Bötticher & Mares 244-245)�½strategies of religious-political movementsContemporary Islamist extremism consists of many differentactors and ideological and religious variants�½ Islamist extremismcan be characterized as a social movement in a transnational area(Vertigans 163), however, this movement is very heterogeneous andsome parts – at least temporarily – fighting each against the oth-er (mostly it is valid for the Shia-Sunni conflict). The spectrum ofstrategies can be conceptualized on an axis where one pole can becharacterized as a non-violent quasi-legal activity and the secondpole as mass militancy, including a war against “non-believers”(Bötticher & Mares 258-261)�½The activities of selected actors of the Islamist extremist move-ment can be combined�½ They can include both violent strategies(terrorism) as well as electoral party political strategies (Jesse &Thieme 21)�½ The term strategy can be used in relation to Islamistextremism in its political meaning (Raschke & Tils 127) as well asin its military meaning (Collins 4)�½ Some authors even in relation tocurrent Islamic fundamentalism use the term “militarisation of thereligion” (Gemein & Redmer 205)�½On European territory a broad concept of insurgent strategiescan be used�½ The term insurgency is used in various and very dif-ferent meanings. In this article we can start with the definitionby Bard O´ Neill: “a struggle between non-ruling group and rulingauthorities in which the nonruling group consciously uses politicalresources (e�½ g�½ organizational, expertise, propaganda and demon-strations) and violence to destroy, reformulate, or sustain the basisof one or more aspects of politics” (O´ Neill 15)�½Strategies of Islamist Extremism in Europe111In this article the broader conceptualization of insurgency elab-orated by Ariel Merari is respected�½ His categorization can be usedfor an analysis of non-religious as well as religious movements, in-cluding Islamist extremism�½ Merari distinguishes between the fol-lowing forms of insurgent strategies:1�½ Coup d´etat (sudden, forceful stroke in politics, especiallya sudden overthrow of a government);2�½ Violent Revolution (violent radical social, political or eco-nomic change, Merari uses the term Leninist revolution);3�½ Guerilla (a diffuse type of war, fought in relatively small for-mations, against astronger enemy);4�½ Riots (mob violence, usually non-organized in the sense thatthe rioters are neither totally controlled by a leader nor organizedin units or another hierarchical structure; sometimes they are in-tentionally incited by organized political activists);5�½ Terrorism (a systematic use of politically motivated violenceperpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groupsor clandestine state agents, usually intended to influence an audi-ence);6�½ Non-Violent Resistance (demonstrations, labor strikes, hun-ger strikes, merchandise boycott, refusal to pay taxes etc�½) (Merari217-223)�½It is important to mention that Merari is focused on insurgentstrategies�½ Terrorism is sometimes used also in the context of re-pressive governmental violence (including war terrorism etc�½, rev-olutionary or contra-revolutionary terrorism etc�½) (Kraus)�½ In thefuture Islamist extremists can also use military strategy of regularwar against European countries�½Contemporary Islamist extremist spectrum in europeWith the knowledge of the previous definitions and conceptswe can categorize the contemporary Islamist extremist spectrumin Europe�½ In the Sunni as well as in the Shia spectrum we canfind organizations and networks which use quasi-legalist methods,and violent organizations and networks�½ Sometimes violence canbe used only in a non-European area, while in Europe the grouppropagates non-violent behavior (as the Muslim Brotherhood)�½ Theline between extremism and non-extremism seems to be unclearin many cases�½ For example, the foundations and groups support-ed from Islamic countries announce fight against extremism and112Miroslav Maresterrorism on the one hand and they promote anti-Semitic and in-tolerant materials on the other hand – as the World Assembly ofMuslim Youth – WAMY (Stand for Peace 10-11)�½ As Alex P�½ Schmidwrites:trying to distinguish between non-violent (religious) extremists and violent(religious) extremists is futile seems inescapable�½ It makes more sense to lookat what both groups of extremists share in their political outlook�½ The ideathat one can hold extremist beliefs without being inclining to use extrem-ist methods to realise them when the opportunity presents itself – some-thing attributed to non-violent extremists – is naïve and dangerous�½ ReligiousIslamist extremism is a unitary phenomenon of which violent and non-violentextremism are two sides of the same coin�½ To be clear: this statement refers tothe ideology of Islamism and not to the religion of Islam (Schmid 20)�½With respect to the above mentioned problems we can identifythe spectrum of Sunni extremist organizations which in Europeare not using violence (at least up to now) – mostly the MuslimBrotherhood and its cover groups – as the Federation of IslamicOrganisations in Europe(FIOE) (Kandel 150-159)�½ The secondimportant representative of this stream is the Party for IslamicRenewal (Hizb ut-Tahrir)�½ In Europe also thedogmatic groupTablighi Jamaatis active,with its roots in Asian theological schoolDeobandi (Kandel 165-169)�½ Support for extremist Islamism is car-ried out by various Islamic foundations (Burr & Collins 237-262)�½The relatively new Sharia4 movement combines violent and non-violent methods�½The Militant and clearly violent Sunni spectrum (so calledJihadism) is connected with the activities of global networks –AlQaeda and affiliated groups (as the Islamic Jihad Union – IJU) andcurrently also with the Islamic State (IS)�½ The “virtual Jihadist um-mah” is an important part of this spectrum (from the point of viewof radicalization of new supporters)�½ Ideologists and strategists ofJihadism are spreading their concepts with the help of the inter-net as well as extremist Muslim meeting points (mosques, commu-nity centres etc�½) (Brachman 189)�½ Branches of regional terroristgroups operate on the European territory mostly with logistic goals,as the Hamas, Caucasus Emirate or Taliban (Islamic Emirate ofAfghanistan) (Bötticher & Mares 268)�½Shia extremist networks consist of groups which promote“Khomeinism” (as a result of the Islamic revolution in Iran) by non-violent methods and of violent groups affiliated with the Hezbollahstructures in Europe and with hidden units of the al-QudsStrategies of Islamist Extremism in Europe113– a special branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (Kraus)�½Also in the Shia networks selected centres play an important role,as the Islamic Centre Hamburg (Bötticher & Mares 274)�½Quasi-legalist strategiesIslamist extremists try to use European legal environment fortheir own purposes�½ They claim their own legal demands – some-times using unclear words – with the goal to establish non-demo-cratic rule according to a non-democratic interpretation of Islam,or they try to harm seriously the human right standards of currentEuropean countries (in the fields of human women’s rights, plural-ism, freedom of speech, rights of sexual minorities etc�½)�½For example, according to Jytte Klausen “the Muslim Brother-hood now seeks influence through a strategy of integration intoEuropean societies” (Klausen 209)�½ The legal Muslim organiza-tions organize various actions for the public, where the “positiveimage of Islamism” should be presented�½ However, as during theso called Peace congress in Oslo 2013 in 2013, in fact extrem-ist views were presented there�½ In this congress activists FahadQureshi from the group Islamic Net defended death penalty forhomosexuals, gender segregation, stoning etc�½ After a wave of crit-icism this organisation wrote (quoted with original spelling mis-takes):The Chairman of Islam Net, Fahad Ullah Qureshi asked the audience, and theanswer was clear�½ The attendees were common Sunni Muslims�½ They did notconsider themselves as radicals or extremists�½ They believed that segregationwas the right thing to do, both men and women agreed upon this�½ They evensupported stoning or whatever punishment Islam or prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) commanded for adultery or any other crime�½ They evenbelieved that these practices should be implemented around the world�½ Nowwhat does that tell us? Either all Muslims and Islam is radical, or the mediais Islamophobic and racist in their presentation of Islam�½ Islam is not radical,nor is Muslims in general radical�½ That means that the media is the reasonfor the hatred against Muslims, which is spreading among the non-Muslimsin western countries (Islam Net)�½Muslim extremist groupings were trying to use norms againstdiscrimination in such a way that also legitimate criticism of selectedparts of dogmatic Islam and political Islamism should be prohibited�½The campaign against blasphemy was typical after publishing of car-toons of the Prophet Mohammed in Denmark�½ During this campaign [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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