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Not Guilty
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I read this article the other day discussing a speech Tony Blair – the new envoy to the Middle East on behalf of Russia, UN, US, and EU … whatever that means – gave explaining that Westerner’s should not feel guilty about Islamic extremism, that Westerner’s have nothing to do with Islamic extremism, and that Islamic extremism is caused by a conflict within Islam itself. This kind of statement made absolutely no sense to me – especially coming from someone who is supposed to support efforts to bring stability, peace, etc. to the region that has suffered the most from Islamic extremism.
Beyond whether or not these statements are accurate – why would you ever make such a blunt, black and white statement about something as complex as Islamic extremism in the first place? It’s different from country to country, region to region. I think the only blanket statement you could really ever make about Islamic extremism is that there is no one cause. Whatever role a conflict within Islam has I can’t really speak to – because I don’t know enough about Islam to comment. But I feel pretty confident in believing this is not the sole cause of Islamic extremism.
As for the person who made the speech – an individual, sent on behalf of primarily ‘Western’ countries, to represent their (as well as Russian and ‘global’ interests somewhat - since Russia and the UN are included) interests of stability and peace in this region, it seems very ignorant to claim that ‘Westerners’ don’t have any role in Islamic extremism at all. As if Islam, and the regions where it is most prevalent, are just islands onto themselves – not influenced by ‘outside’ interests at all. Because Islamic extremism doesn’t thrive in regions that have suffered from economic and political instability – and that economic and political instability has nothing to do with the long list of situations in which ‘Western’ countries/businesses have meddled in the economies and politics of these regions. Now is that the only reason for Islamic extremism? No, but I don’t think you can claim it plays no role whatsoever.
So back to what Tony Blair said in this speech: “faced with terrorism and extremist rage, liberal-minded Westerners sometimes assume that ‘there's something that we should be doing, or have done, that is causing this’.” But according to him ‘Westerners’ shouldn’t feel guilty. They didn’t do anything wrong.
Now I don’t know about the word guilt – but I think there is a responsibility on the part of countries/organizations/businesses who’ve been party to actions in these countries/regions that have contributed to instability, poverty, repression and also extremism. Not because these actions were the sole cause – but more because they didn’t help what might have already been a situation where extremism was likely to develop, or already had.
Later in the speech Tony Blair goes on to assert that not only should ‘Westerners’ not feel guilty about Islamic extremism, but should make a point of proclaiming they don’t feel guilty about Islamic extremism, and continue to ‘export’ our wonderful democratic values – which one day ‘they’ will thank us for, or at least they’d better.
He didn’t actually say it like that. But that was the general impression it made on me – ‘we’re gonna bring you this democracy – and you’d better thank us for it later’. It was very paternalistic and condescending – and I thought, an inappropriate message for an envoy to the Middle East to be sending on behalf of Russia, US, EU (three areas of the world with a long history of messing about in countries/regions where Islamic extremism is now prevalent, and the UN, an institution that is supposed to support equality between nations/peoples/countries – not paternalism!)
Maybe next time Tony Blair can recognize the complexities of Islamic extremism – instead of making a statement that isn’t true, misleading and (I think) kind of offensive towards all the people who have suffered due to Islamic extremism.

January 26, 2008 | 7:53 PM Comments  0 comments

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