International relations: concepts, theories, and applications

Terrorism seems to have taken over the world. No matter how hard the industrialized countries try to find ways to achieve peace and stability in the world but somehow the opposite happens. Today's world is predominantly inhabited by hatred that is visible in the never-ending terror and fear produced by the attacks of September 11th and the military responses undertaken by Super powers. Wars apparently carried out in order to eradicate terrorism are seen by the affected countries as excuses to simply dominate more countries and establish and American hegemony or new colonialism all over the world.

The reasons for escalating terrorism are complex and more than often not understandable. However, some of the reasons are as follows: The growth in the number of terrorist groups is instigated largely by the religious imperative that is greatly funded by the state governments of the Islamic countries; the highly advanced technology and operational competence of "professional" terrorists make it easier than ever for them to attack places. Religious Terrorism is what has taken the world by a surprise. This form of terrorism is largely inspired by religious extremists and clerics, who also run training schools where they breed terrorists.

The link between religion and terrorism is not new, but in recent times it seems to have become overshadowed by ethnic and nationalist-separatist or ideologically motivated terrorism.

Objective of the dissertation

The contents of this dissertation reviews terrorism from both an historical and current perspective by highlighting the forces that are threatening the stability of this anarchical world.

The main objective of this analysis is to provide a background to Islamic Terrorism and how its repercussions affect world order in terms of new geo political alliances. The second task will be to study the reasons for the divergences between Europe and America by using the visions of authors like Robert Kagan who wrote "Paradise and Power," Joseph Nye, who wrote "The Paradox of American Power." The report will conclude by throwing light on how ["is" is to be deleted not required] the different ideologies of different nations ["that" is to be deleted because its not required] fail to solve the problem of escalating terrorism.

PART I

Islamic Terrorism

Numerous polls taken in the past indicate that majority of the people predict that the war between communism and the West is about to be replaced by a war between the West and Islam. This hypothesis leads to a series of unanswered questions, Are Islam and the West on an inevitable collision course? Are Islamic fundamentalists medieval fanatics? Are Islam and democracy incompatible? Is Islamic fundamentalism a threat to stability in the Muslim world and to American interests in the region?

These are critical questions for our times that come from a history too often marked by mutual distrust and conflict. (Esposito 1). From Ayatollah Khomeini to Saddam Hussein and the Taliban in Afghanistan, for almost two decades the vision of Islamic fundamentalism or militant Islam has been viewed as a threat to the West that has recently gripped the imaginations of Western governments and the media. Khomeini's denunciation of America as the "Great Satan," chants of "Death to America," the condemnation of Salman Rushdie and his Satanic Verses, and Saddam Hussein's call for a jihad against foreign infidels reinforced images of Islam as a militant, expansionist religion, highly anti-American and intent upon war with the West. (Esposito 19). Islamic fundamentalism has often been regarded as a major threat to the regional stability of the Middle East and to Western interests in the broader Muslim world. The Iranian Revolution, attacks on Western embassies, hijackings and hostage taking, and violent acts by groups with names like the Army of God (Jund Allah), Holy War (al-Jihad), the Party of God (Hezbollah), and Salvation from Hell have all signaled a form of militant Islam on a collision course with the West. Uprisings in the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union, in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Kashmir, Sinkiang in China, and on the West Bank and Gaza, and Saddam Hussein's attempted annexation of Kuwait, have reinforced images of an expansive and potentially explosive Islam in global politics.

However, what was assumed to be just a potential threat unfolded into reality on September 11th, 2001. The neo-medieval rhetoric of holy war reverberated from the minaret to the television and, at an unprecedented level, to the Internet. (Booth and Dunne 105).

The Rationale - from political rivalry to religious conflict

After the attack on September 11th, the war on terrorism seems to be more of a war between the U.S.A. And the Islamic extremists who happen to be staunch followers of Osama Bin Laden. The West for reasons unknown has long ignored the problems led by religious terrorism. One fact is that the terrorist activity of Islamic radical groups in different parts around the world since the early 1980s has been targeted basically at the United States. Another assumption that is leading to the expansion of the terrorist networks is what {"that" not required in the sentence] they believe as ["after the fall of the Soviet Union (1990-1991)" not required should be deleted] some countries of the Western world are looking at the Muslim nations as their new enemy with an eye on their oil reserves. These two trends led to the increasing growth of a global conflict between socio-political cultures, where Islam and the Muslim world started planning wars with America.

The problem lies in the misconceptions held by these Islamic groups. After the so-called third world countries started to gain independence they started to see their newly found freedom as an excellent opportunity to expand global rivalry against the Jews who they associate with the West.

The Need for an Enemy

The West had ignored the issue of religious terrorism for such a long time that they cannot seem to deal with the problems that are caused due to the rivalries between Islam and the West. In the West, where the culture is a combination of various elements such as, democracy, human rights, civil infrastructure, and liberalism, they view Islamic terrorism as politically poisoning for their nation.

A person from the Western world would like to believe that there are no differences between him and a Muslim but the problem lies in the general Muslim population, which regard the West as the enemy of their religion and culture. It's not just for religious reasons but also for socio-economic ones too. The conflicts stem from the growing alienation of the different countries together with the different disputes since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The growing distances have only led to the creation of global cultural conflicts between the U.S., which is the leader of the West and also dominates over the third world countries inhabited largely by a Muslim population. The changing situation of growing conflicts led to the formation of Islamic radical groups, which in the beginning ["that" should be deleted] comprised mostly of poor affected Muslims ["in the beginning" should be deleted from here]. They began to unify with the sole purpose of destroying the West. They felt that any attack by the Americans on a Muslim country constituted an attack on the entire Muslim world. This solidarity is based on the Islamic view that unification of the Muslim world is their primary mission in the world. It is this unification that causes governments of Muslim states to support religious terrorism propagated towards the West.

After the fall of the Soviet Union some parts of the West is also looking for an enemy.

Some even believe that religion may not even be an issue; it's just that the West needs someone to hate and attack. This is why they see Islamic terrorism as the perfect excuse to cause fear and insecurity. In short, both the West and the Muslim world have developed conflicts that are very deadly and ugly. The hatred seems to mirror the good vs. The bad as seen in both religions.

This temporal rift has affected the future of International relations. Old rules of statecraft diplomacy and warfare have broken terrorist networks (Booth and Dunne 104) alike. New and old forms of representation synergies in on 9/11. Others, like Fukuyama, consider that September 11th was an attempt of those who are not in favor of following the occidental patterns to show their opposition and as a way to escape from an imposed model of society and values. This might be the starting point to review the relation between the Muslim and the Occidental world. Though violence is not acceptable it may be the reflection of a desire to be contemplated in a different way of those who lived in a secondary position over centuries. It might be the desire to balance the position of societies whose living and behavior in principles are different from us, to be respected by them. Occidental societies are based on values of freedom and democracy and never, since Greeks, questioned the validity of these principles, nor even letting a different model to be valuable. We will see what the proportion of violence is and what is the proportion of faith and religious values that Muslim["s" should be deleted"] societies consider in an attempt to create a different model of being.

From an occidental point-of-view, a new paradigm seems to have turned out in international relations. The new enemies are not a state, not a localized group as it was before, high mobility and advanced technology enable the enemy to be anywhere at any time and this requires new models of cooperation to combat terrorism.

Since the attack on the twin towers the occidental countries are in a crusade, because of the military response orchestrated by the U.S., chiefly the main sufferer of this action has been.the International world of politics. ["have been affected" should be deleted] Mainly, since the fall of communism, there was an ["first one is the" should be deleted] imbalance of power between the United States and the rest of the countries because there was no enemy or ["where they have no" should be deleted] competitor.

Authors like Waltz, consider the attacks on September 11th to have provided the Americans with the power to continue forming American colonies in different parts of the world and a chance to extend its military capacity outside the United States. (Booth and Dunne chapter 31).

International Relations Theories, prove to be useful in explaining the reality of the political conditions in times of slow change, however, they will need to be revised when explaining the relations between different countries. As we will see, their main premises are no longer useful, like the concept of nation state or sovereignty to explain the current situation and it will take a long time until old or new theories can be considered capable of explaining this "biosocial " model of world.

Therefore, in this dissertation I will provide the reader with an in-depth analysis of the current situation from both an historical context as well as how it will affect the present times and the future. The main aspect of this report is to focus on how the formation of Islamic radical groups took place and what actually led to the development of Islamic fundamentalism that formed the path for violence we see today. In addition to this part, the report will conclude with the actions that have been undertaken by the U.S., Europe and strategically chosen partners in order to reduce the effects instigated by the terrorist networks all over the world and how successful they have been so far. From an international relations point-of-view the report will explain why the traditional theories in IR are not applicable in explaining the current situation and require new models to be developed for this purpose.

Islam, terrorism and world politics

Historical perspective, the roots of the conflict

The outlook of Islamic fundamentalism is shaped by a deep reverence for history, especially the history of the Muslim people, which is divided into two phases. Islamic fundamentalists interpret the first phase as a positive, exemplary period with models of behavior and organization to be studied and applied in the present. It encompasses the biography of Muhammad and the early Caliphs (or successors to Muhammad as leaders of the Muslim community), the creation of the first Islamic state, the expansion of Islam out of Arabia, and the spread of great empires that brought Muslim culture and civilization to its height. This exemplary time was followed by a second phase, which was one of decline. It saw military defeat, loss of territory, corruption, and the coming of Western colonialism. Islamic fundamentalists attribute this phase of Muslim history to an abandonment of religious faith and piety. They see a lesson to be learned: that only a revitalization of Islamic ways can restore the fortunes of the Muslim people. For Islamic fundamentalists, then, history holds the key to understanding not only the past, but also the present. (Davidson 3). For many, the contemporary revival of Islam challenged the received wisdom and seemed to deal a deathblow to reason and common sense. The most forceful manifestations of the Islamic resurgence have occurred in the more advanced and "modernized" countries of the Muslim world such as Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, and Tunisia. In a very real sense, Islamic revivalism has often been seen and experienced as a direct threat to the ideas, beliefs, practices, and interests of Muslim secular elites as well as Western governments and multinational corporations. This clash of worldviews has reinforced the Western tendency to see Islamic activism as extremism and fanaticism, as an anti-modern return to the past rather than the projection of an alternative vision for society. Because it does not conform to modern secular presuppositions, to the West's most cherished beliefs and values, Islamic activism is regarded as a dangerous, irrational and counter-cultural movement.

Threat Analysis

The end of Berlin's Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet Union led to the end of the Cold War; The threat of a nuclear war seemed to have disappeared, but instead of peace it lead to the appearance of a new and less predicted element of fear- very closely related to what is popularly known as ethnic cleansing. In short, ethnic conflicts, hidden under the coat of the lost Soviet Union, weapons proliferation, environmental problems, population growth, drug trafficking, global mafias and in out context, Islamic terrorism.