Atempts to liberalise Islam date back to the early 19th Century. After over a century and half, governments, policymakers and some western commentators are still eager to push an agenda that has a history of failure.

An unusual conundrum now faces the West; stay loyal to the founding constructs of democracy or embrace realpolitik and discard any delusions of an enlightened and democratic Middle East. The stunning election victories of Hamas, the surprisingly good showing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the sweeping into power of Ahmadinejad in Iran and last but not least the stranglehold of the religious parties in all of Iraq’s recent elections; all show a worrying trend for exporters of the democratic ideal. A situation brought about not by design but fashioned in the hearts and minds of the people of the region, where their aspirations and their voices have been heard; a “democratic” upheaval is under way.

The vocal demands of Muslims around the globe for an Islamic State can no longer be ignored either by politicians, policymakers of secular states or the ‘prophets’ of globalization.The re-establishment of an Islamic political authority as an effective defence against a multitude of perceived victimizations of the Islamic world is gaining credence in all strata of Muslim society. 

As the attacks that rocked London’s transport system unfolded before the world last July, the attention immediately turned to the British government’s response.The world speculated as to where the blame would be directed, which new targets would be unveiled as part of the war to rid the world of terror. In response to the attacks on 9/11, the US invaded two countries, overthrew their regimes and has since moved to pressure Iran and Syria. After the Madrid bombings, a huge swing in Spanish public opinion dramatically changed the fortunes of the leftist political opposition who came to power on the pledge that it would pull-out all Spanish troops from Iraq. What would follow 7/7 and how would it affect the logic that had thus far formed the backbone of the War on Terror? 

The BBC documentary ‘The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear’ aired in the United Kingdom during November 2004 was a fascinating insight into the rise of fear as a political tool and source of manipulation. According to the documentary, the failure of American liberalism during the 1960s and 1970sand decreasing American state legitimacy drove the search for new avenues to restore power and authority. Instead of delivering dreams, politicians began to promise protection from nightmares in order to derive much-needed legitimacy. In the past, the Soviet Union was labelled as the nightmare to be fought against through state knowledge and power. Post September 11th, a new nightmare shaping fear and driving US foreign policy emerged packaged in the form of ‘Islamic Fundamentalism’. The need to fight ‘Islamic fundamentalists’ for the sake of national security and world peace has become a predominant preoccupation.