As Economies Sink, Religious Radicals Suffer Setbacks

By Adam B. Kushner and Solenn Honorine | NEWSWEEK

Published Apr 11, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009

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Alongside exports, employment and growth, the financial crisis is claiming a less-talked-about victim: political Islam. In Muslim countries worldwide, voters have begun turning their backs on Islamist and other values-based parties in favor of dry but competent economic technocrats.

Take Turkey, where the religious Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered badly in local elections last month. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been ignoring calls from the business community for IMF help and had downplayed the effects of the credit crisis on Turkey, suggesting it was all psychological. Instead of financial issues, Erdogan campaigned on a variety of Islamist platforms, including criticism of Israel. But Turkish voters were preoccupied with more-domestic concerns: their economy contracted 6.2 percent in the last quarter of 2008 alone. And the AKP dropped 8 points in popular support and lost votes even in its Anatolian heartland.

A similar pattern played out in Indonesia last week. Poll results are still being tallied, but Islamists seem to have performed poorly, winning less than 25 percent of the total—down from 38 percent in 2004. In a February survey by polling agency LSI, 76 percent of respondents said the government should focus on economic development, while just 0.8 percent said that religion and moral values should animate the nation's politics. According to Robin Bush, country director for the Asia Foundation, the tough economic times have dramatically decreased Indonesian interest in an Islamist agenda—at least for now.

The next test will be Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stands for reelection in June. In 2005, Ahmadinejad campaigned on ending corruption and putting oil wealth in the hands of the public. But he has failed on both accounts, while managing to drive up inflation and abolishing Iran's budget office. Former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi is now running against him by highlighting his own, better economic track record. Gary Sick, an Iran scholar at Columbia University, predicts Ahmadinejad will suffer in the coming election: "People will be spending more time and attention on survival and economic issues than on religious ideology," he says.

Not all Islamist parties are hurting equally. Lebanon's central bank insulated its leaders from the global crisis by making savvy economic moves like forbidding risky investments. When voters there go to the polls in June, they'll be free to focus on other issues, like ideology. Still, that could mean even worse news for the Islamists—because if Hizbullah's fortunes also sink, they'll have no one to blame but themselves.

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Posted By: Mwalimu @ 04/19/2009 11:03:18 AM

We cannot "win" the war against terrorism by the military. In Afghanistan in particular, our military options are very limited. Ditto for Iran. If we want to "win" the war against terrorists, we must cut if their allowance. Terrorists get their money through petro-dollars, either ours or some one else's.
Therefore if we must free ourselves from the tyranny of oil. We must do everything we can to cut down on our use of oil. We also need R & D in all forms of renewable energy, including getting fuel from algae, bacteria or sea kelp. Ahmadinejad's rhetoric aside, the strongest message we can send to Iran is "Keep your crude."
Beyond liberating ourselves from oil ASAP, we must attack the underlying causes of terrorism. Malcolm X once said, "The most dangerous man in the world is a man with nothing to lose." From Djakarta, Indonesia to Casablanca, Morocco, and swinging down to sub-Saharan Africa is a expanding crescent of urban slums with soaring unemployment rates - especially among young men. This is the breeding ground for Islamic Fundamentalism. We must address these economic problems.
Obama has the right ideas. He understands what I am writing about. The BIG problem is the ignorant, lazy douchebags in the Senate. Not to mention their counterpart douche-bags on FOX NEWS, CNBC, and CNN. The biggest threat to our security is not al Qaeda. It's our own collective arrogance, ignorance, and stupidity.
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Posted By: Mwalimu @ 04/19/2009 11:02:56 AM

to Indian,
Religious tolerance can exist in Muslim societies. The Muslims in Spain actually discouraged conversions into Islam, albeit Christians and Jews paid a special tax which was a source of revenue. But compare Muslim Spain with Christian Spain - with its orgy of Inquisitions, and you'll see a difference. In terms of implementing religious tolerance in the Middle East, you will NOT, I repeat, you will NOT implement religious tolerance in Islamic states by "bombing their cities, killing their leaders and converting everyone to Christianity." This is Ann Coulter's solution- and I might add the solution proposed by the entire GOP.
A much more effective approach is what Bill Clinton said last summer. We must operate by "the power of our example, NOT an example of our power." Obama's trip to Turkey underscores this attitude. No, we will not succeed overnight.The GOP, like so many immature teenagers, demands instant gratitifaction. BUT, Clinton's approach is far more effective than what we are doing in Iraq.
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Posted By: Mwalimu @ 04/19/2009 10:55:25 AM

We cannot "win" the war against terrorism by the military. In Afghanistan in particular, our military options are very limited. Ditto for Iran. If we want to "win" the war against terrorists, we must cut if their allowance. Terrorists get their money through petro-dollars, either ours or some one else's.
Therefore if we must free ourselves from the tyranny of oil. We must do everything we can to cut down on our use of oil. We also need R & D in all forms of renewable energy, including getting fuel from algae, bacteria or sea kelp. Ahmadinejad's rhetoric aside, the strongest message we can send to Iran is "Keep your crude."
Beyond liberating ourselves from oil ASAP, we must attack the underlying causes of terrorism. Malcolm X once said, "The most dangerous man in the world is a man with nothing to lose." From Djakarta, Indonesia to Casablanca, Morocco, and swinging down to sub-Saharan Africa is a expanding crescent of urban slums with soaring unemployment rates - especially among young men. This is the breeding ground for Islamic Fundamentalism. We must address these economic problems.
Obama has the right ideas. He understands what I am writing about. The BIG problem is the ignorant, lazy douchebags in the Senate. Not to mention their counterpart douche-bags on FOX NEWS, CNBC, and CNN. The biggest threat to our security is not al Qaeda. It's our own collective arrogance, ignorance, and stupidity.