Globalization and Islamic Fundamentalism

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is a major terrorist organization whose intent is to push aspiring jihadists, who are more willing to use its gruesome tactics to advance their local ambitions. The government of Yemen continues to fight for the provinces occupied by AQAP. Areas such as, the Abyan and Shabwa provinces are partly or entirely out of the governments control. The information delivered in this paper is intended to enable a better understanding of the agenda behind AQAP while examining AQAP’s influence of regional and global importance specifically U.S. interests. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is formerly known as Al Qaeda in Yemen (AQY) was established in 1998 after the disestablishment of the Islamic Jihad in Yemen (1990-1994) and the Army of Aden in Abyan (1994-1998).

America is at war. But who is the enemy that America is fighting? This enemy, known generally as terrorism, lives in a different world than the American superpower. Terrorism is the child of decades of religious disputes, histories of deep national pride, and what is seen as infringement upon Islamic holy grounds. Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East view America's presence in Saudi Arabia as blasphemous and intolerable .

This conflict has caused tensions and violence to flare up throughout Islamic history. This conflict has carried into modern times and has becoming a rallying point for Muslim people calling for change with their government and across the Middle Eastern region. The Sunni Shia conflict is major division within Islam that has and continues to shape Islam and the Middle East. History of the Conflict The Sunni Shia conflict can trace its roots back to 632 C.E. when Muhammad died without clearly naming a successor to his budding Islamic empire (Egger 2004).

The greatest, most promising ideas found in Esposito’s book are mainly focused on the Islamic reformation that is slowly accelerating towards a drastic change. One can see that throughout history any form of religious ref... ... middle of paper ... ...e misinterpretation done by extremists and terrorists. Although the Qur’an might have controversial and sometimes rebuttal verses it all depends on the audience and the preacher. “The future of Islam and Muslims is inextricably linked to all of humanity. All of our futures will depend on working together for good governance, for freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and for economic and educational advancement.

Overshadowing all these, we are witnessing new Muslim movements and a new kind of populist, aggressive and literalist Muslim leadership struggling to emerge. The Taliban and their guest from Saudi Arabia, Osama bin Laden, who is accused of masterminding the bombing of the American embassies in Africa in 1998, best symbolizes this trend. In other countries such as Algeria, Egypt and Pakistan, similar Muslim leaders actively challenge the established rulers. For these warriors of Islam, the injustices of their rulers and the fact that some enjoy support in the West, all the cultural invasion of western media images, as well as the stereotypes of Islam in the Western media such as the 1998 Hollywood film The Siege, in which Muslims are shown as terrorists and fanatics, highlight the serious cultural and political problems that Muslims face. These coupled with the indifference of the West to them, combine to create a focus on the West as the enemy.

The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1).

The key issue in the Middle East, increasingly, has less to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict and more to do with fundamentalist Islam. What is fundamentalist Islam? On the one hand, it manifests itself as a new religious conviction, reaffirming faith in an awe-inspiring God. On the other hand, it appears as a militant ideology, demanding political action now. One day its spokesmen call for a jihad (sacred war) against the West, evoking the deepest historic resentments.

The rise of Islam is also of significance because it set the stage for religious conflicts in that region that continue even to this day. Replacing the early caliphates was the Ottoman Empire, which engaged in many wars against rivals, who were later replaced by the various Arab countries that are still to this day constantly in a state of political turmoil, and antagonistic to many western

Then we will discuss the controversy that Al-Qaeda has caused with other moderate rebels in Syria and between countries around the world. Finally I will give my opinion on the matter of Al-Qaeda’s clashes with moderate rebels and the violent terror tactics it uses. Al-Qaeda is a growing concern and is a threat to peace, if not contained it will have terrible consequences in the future. There are two Al-Qaeda affiliated groups currently fighting in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. These groups are known as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Jabhat Al-Nusra (JAN).

Furthermore, now more than ever, the media are a tool of war. These dramas were broadcasted by the media all over the world. This is how the media helps to evolve terrorism – they send the terrorist a clear although unspoken message: to maintain access to the airwaves, you need to devise even more outrageous tactics. Thus, the new “global” terrorist, caught into the trap of globalization, will have to break more rules, cross more psychological borders, and crack more taboos in order to exist. This can be considered the most dangerous feature of the “new” terrorism – not only do we not know when the next attack will strike, we either have no idea what actually is going to happen .