Turkey and Malaysia have long been regarded as the most developed
countries in the Muslim world. Through a historic commitment in the
C20th to modernisation and development, they have achieved standards of
infrastructure, education, healthcare but also industrialization and
economic output that compare favorably to that of many of the newer
members of the European Union.
They were
not, of course, the only countries in the Muslim world to have attempted
such development. But they have been by far the most successful. They
were also quite fortunate to not end up as collateral damage in the Cold
War struggle between the USSR and the West – as some other Muslim
countries have been.
But ultimately, one
feels that much of their success is down to their respective
determination to build integrated, inclusive nations. Unlike in Syria,
or Iraq, in Turkey one is not, first and foremost, a Sunni, or a Shiite,
or a Christian. One is, before anything else, a Turk.
In
Malaysia, the ethnic group of every citizen is something that is
acknowledged and celebrated. But unlike in Afghanistan, the competition
and the conflicts between groups is not settled through tribal warfare:
it is settled through the political process. And when specific ethnic
groups have been historically disadvantaged, like for example the
indigenous Malays, this is acknowledged and there are quotas in place
for access to higher education or to the institutions of political
administration to redress historical imbalances in the representation of
their interests.
Blame game
But
right now, unfortunately, both of these countries are sliding backwards.
And this time, I am afraid to say, the West is not to blame.
Turkey
has been steadily becoming more and more illiberal in the last 14 years
in which President’s Erdogan AK Party have been the dominant political
force in the country. Press freedom, for example, has been eroded to the
point where, in this past week, the government could simply take over
the administration of the country’s largest opposition newspaper, Zaman,
followed swiftly by the Cihan news agency. Any independent-minded
journalists
can expect to be sacked if they choose to not toe the party line. And now people are
going to prison for the crime of “offending the President”.
Very many Muslim countries also have fractured populations
who put parochial or tribal interests well above collective national
concerns.
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
Meanwhile, Malaysia is being ruled by a
prime minister who has distinguished himself through incompetence in
public administration. Though it does seem that Najib Razak is quite
able to
line his own pockets an
investigation by the Wall Street Journal and Sarawak has found that the
PM may have managed to pilfer as much as $1 billion from Malaysian
state coffers. Though, of course, this is just the tip of the corruption
iceberg. In Malaysia,
it seems, corruption is systemic, and the people are largely resigned to this fact.
Five
years ago, the Islamic world was brimming with the hopes of the Arab
Spring. Even though the rot at the heart of Turkey and Malaysia has been
in place for well over 10 years, other Muslim and Arab countries were
looking forward to a brighter future, as they sought to rid themselves
of the same kind of authoritarian or corrupt leaders that the most
Westernised countries in the Islamic world now tolerate.
But
it was not to be. Libya and Syria are examples of how badly wrong
things can go if you get rid of some of these corrupt leaders, and how
badly things can go wrong if you do not. Tunisia stands alone as the
only success story of the Arab Spring; at least for now. But ISIS
already has it in their sights. And the internal politics of the
country, though they have remained largely civil so far, are still
volatile and can erupt into state-destroying conflict just like they did
in neighbouring Libya.
Note, however, what
proportion of these woes affecting the Muslim world is in fact to do
with the West and how much more it has to do with local or transnational
Muslim factors. The most frequent problem is corruption and economic
mismanagement. Very often, there is a huge problem with large, young
populations with poor education and virtually no economic opportunities.
Very
many Muslim countries also have fractured populations who put parochial
or tribal interests well above collective national concerns. And if
that was not enough, you have militant Islamists, very often foreign,
barging in left, right and centre and blowing things up. Is it any
wonder that states in the region are so fragile? Is it surprising that
so many have failed or are failing?
Everyone
likes blaming the West for all this, of course. But if the West just
suddenly stopped existing tomorrow, would any of this get any better?
The West is responsible for plenty of debacles and foreign policy
blunders in the region. But it cannot be held responsible for the fact
that so many Muslims there cannot abide to live in peace and justice
just because they are a different tribe, or sect, or have a different
political ideology.
You have proper
societies when you have a group of people who will work hard to live in
peace and harmony with each other. There are virtually no societies left
in much of the Muslim world and Muslims have only themselves to blame
for that.
___________________________
Azeem Ibrahim is an RAI
Fellow at Mansfield College, University of Oxford and Research Professor
at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College. He completed
his PhD from the University of Cambridge and served as an International
Security Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and a
World Fellow at Yale. Over the years he has met and advised numerous
world leaders on policy development and was ranked as a Top 100 Global
Thinker by the European Social Think Tank in 2010 and a Young Global
Leader by the World Economic Forum. He tweets @AzeemIbrahim
Last Update: Friday, 11 March 2016 KSA 10:01 - GMT 07:01
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