Articles
Articles
Islamic fundamentalism in the Levant:
the Syrian regime's investment
There are three factors that reinforce the
previously unprecedented dynamic interactions
of fundamentalism in the Levant. Firstly, the
weakened central authorities in Syria, Iraq and
Lebanon. Secondly, the withdrawal of civil
society as a result of authoritarian power razing it
to the ground. And thirdly, the need for mobilizing
ideology against external invading powers and
tyrannical dictatorships; an ideology which
adopts a simple discourse that is not challenged
by any serious ideological contender. These
factors exacerbate the state of backwardness of
an already deteriorating culture in the Levant; a
culture that is in crisis in its identity as well as
in its relationship with the ‘Other’. Ultimately, the
outcome is the creation of a strand of radical
fundamentalism in which there are those willing
to invest by extortion and other methods of
international, regional and local retributions.
Consequently, the scene that unfolds is an
absurd one and full of radical fundamentalist
movements that are fighting political regimes
which in turn have shrunken into militias directing
civil wars; feeding off one another in what may
be desc ɥ