Fear rather than trying to understand extremism occupies US debate, report says

A study by the Washington think-tank The Centre for Strategic and International Studies looked at tracking trends and numbers in Islam, terrorism, stability and conflict in the Middle East.

ABU DHABI // The debate in the United States over immigration and terrorism should focus not on fear but on the forces driving unrest and extremism in the Middle East, a report says.

A study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington looked at trends and statistics regarding Islam, terrorism, stability and conflict in the region.

It said Islam was growing rapidly in the world and that most Muslims did not support extremism or violence.

“Polls show that most Muslims strongly support the role of religion in civil life and Sharia,” said the report. “They also show, however, that they do not support Islamic extremism and Islamic extremist violence.”

It said a focus on Islam ignored the extent to which failed secularism affected the Middle East and North Africa.

“Many of the states in the Mena region have ethnic, tribal and regional tensions and differences, which can be as serious as sectarian divisions and lead to violence that has nothing to do with Islam per se,” said Dr Anthony Cordesman, author of the report.

He added that tensions between Kurds, Arabs, Iranians and Turks were as critical as sectarian differences.

Islamic extremism is “all too real” a threat but only one source of terrorism. “The current emphasis on ISIL is grossly out of proportion to its present problems and future impact,” said Dr Cordesman.

“The core Islamic extremist threats extend far beyond the Mena region, ISIL and Al Qaeda, and almost all of the violence caused by Islamic extremism has been directed at fellow Muslims. Much of it has been concentrated in Mena states.”

To restore regional stability, the battle against extremism must be fought primarily by the governments of Muslim states.

“The struggle will be won or lost by US strategic partnerships with states like Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman,” said Dr Cordesman.

“It will not be won by trying to isolate the US or Europe from Muslims, or by measures that alienate the Islamic world.”

Experts said the report was timely because it shed light on key issues concerning violent extremism and terrorism.

“It comes at a time when the global threat has reached unprecedented levels and triggered right-wing and populist responses around the world that miss the point,” said Sabahat Khan, senior analyst at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai.

“Diagnosing the actual challenge and its complexity is crucial to aligning international efforts and building shared approaches.”

Mr Khan said the report dispelled the theory of a “clash of civilisations” between the Muslim world and the West. “There’s a problem with violent extremism around the world but these are always fringe elements ultimately motivated by other agendas,” he said.

As the Middle East is the birthplace of Islam, foreigners viewed religion as the source of intolerance rather than the political ideologies that exploited people’s religious beliefs and caused social divisions, said Mr Khan.

“But actually it is Islam that represents the message of peace, tolerance and humanity,” he said.

Mr Khan said the UAE was playing a very important role by showing its model of development, tolerance and social progress to other countries.

Dr Albadr Al Shateri, politics professor at the National Defence College, said Islam was being wrongly blamed for the rise of terrorism.

“Islam represents a genuine identity of the overwhelming majority of the Mena population,” he said, adding that the mischaracterisation of the religion did not reflect the spiritual reality of the faithful.

Failed states and civil strife claimed more lives than any acts of terror, as evident in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Iraq, said Dr Al Shateri.

“Sectarianism is another plague afflicting the region,” he said. “Today, the fight against extremism is humanity’s struggle, like the previous human struggle against slavery and colonialism.”