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by Seifudein Adem, PhD Binghamton University adems@binghamton

Islam between the end of history and the clash of civilizations: an international relations perspective. by Seifudein Adem, PhD Binghamton University adems@binghamton.edu

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by Seifudein Adem, PhD Binghamton University adems@binghamton

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  1. Islam between the end of history and the clash of civilizations: an international relations perspective by Seifudein Adem, PhD Binghamton University adems@binghamton.edu Presentation Presented at a Workshop for Community College Faculty on the theme of “Global Islam: Borders, Boundaries and belonging/s,” Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, November 16, 2013. The presentation, re-titled “Ali A. Mazrui and Reflections on the Revolutions in North Africa “is being prepared for publication.

  2. Outline • End of history (Fukuyama) • Clash of civilizations (Huntington) • Discourse on Islam (the Arab Spring) • Drawing the balance sheet (Rosenau) • Conclusion: lessons learned (Mazrui) Partially based on: “ON THE END OF HISTORY AND THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: A DISSENTER’S VIEW,” JOURNAL OF MUSLIM MINORITY AFFAIRS, VOL. 21, NO. 1, 2001, PP. 25-38.

  3. The “end of history” • The “End of History,” Fukuyama (1989) • victory of political and economic liberalism • “Endpoint of humankind’s ideological evolution” • The critiques: • pre 9-11/empirical • post 9-11/interdependence/vulnerability/actors • post Iraq War

  4. The “end of history” • Fukuyama’s response to critics “Of course, much of the world is indeed mired in history, having neither economic growth nor stable democracy nor peace. But the end of the Cold War marked an important turn in international relations, since for the first time the vast majority of the world’s great powers were stable, prosperous liberal democracies. While there could be skirmishes between countries in history, like Iraq, and those beyond it, like the United States, the prospect of great wars between great powers had suddenly diminished.” • The Return of History and the End of Dream (2009)

  5. The clash of civilizations • S. Huntington (1993) • “…the clash of civilizations will dominate global politics.” Major critiques: • Pre-9-11 • the “logic”: increased interactions … increased conflict • intra-regional trade: misleading data; kin-country syndrome • Confucian-Islamic connection • Post 9-11: “paradigm shift” • impulse for change • absence or removal of obstacle for change • engine of change

  6. The clash of civilizations Did the idea of clash of civilizations influence US foreign policy? • Most probably. • The evidence: • similarity in terms of the discourse • “Axis of Evil” vs. “Islamic-Confucian” connection • Huntington’s endorsement of Bush’s foreign policy • Huntington’s visit to the White House (Nov 2001)

  7. Situating the discourses on Islam (Arab Spring) • Fukuyama, Huntington and the Arab Spring • what is the Arab Spring • meta-narratives: predictive and prescriptive • MENA seemed impervious to end of history • protest not single-mindedly for liberal democracy (Fukuyama) or against it (Huntington) • “skill revolution” (James Rosenau)

  8. Drawing the balance sheet • Arab Spring and James Rosenau’s “skill revolution” • “…the world’s peoples are not so much converging around the same values as they are sharing a greater ability to recognize and articulate their values.” • “…from constitutional and legal to …performance criteria of legitimacy” • TURBULENCE IN WORLD POLITICS (1990) • Toward typology of protest…

  9. Conclusion: lessons learned • The Arab Spring and Ali Mazrui’s ”theory of protest” • Conservation: aroused by sense of impending peril • Restoration: nostalgic seeking to restore the past • Transformation: profound disaffection with existing system of values • Corrective measures: an ad hoc demand for a particular modification in the system • The Arab Spring as a multi-faceted protest within global Islam • PROTEST AND POWER IN BLACK AFRICA (1970) • “EDMOND BURKE AND REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN THE CONGO, “COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN SOCIETY AND HISTORY (1963)

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