Contemporary Issues in International Political Economy

Fu-Lai Tony Yu, Diana S. Kwan, Fu-Lai Tony Yu, Diana S. Kwan

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9789811364617
• eBook ISBN:
  9789811364624
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book is the product of a team-teaching course entitled, "Issues in Economic Development" offered to the final-year students of Department of Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. In this volume, the authors comprehensively survey world's most controversial issues in economic and political affairs. Topics in this volume cover Christianity-Islam confrontation; ISIS and anti-terrorism; North Korea and Taiwan-Strait Crises; China's rise as a global power; Brexit; Artificial Intelligence; Bitcoin; same sex marriage; global warming; happiness and well-being. This book can be used as a reader or textbook in courses such as "International Political Economy" and "International Development", or as a reference for scholars and policy makers.

Part IPolitical and Religious Conflicts in the Middle East

© The Author(s) 2019

F.-L. Yu, D. S. Kwan (eds.)Contemporary Issues in International Political Economyhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6462-4_1

Begin Abstract

1. Religious Conflicts in the Middle East: Christianity Versus Islam and Sunni Versus Shiite

Diana S. Kwan¹ and Fu-Lai Tony Yu²

(1)

Office of Medical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong

(2)

Department of Economics and Finance, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, North Point, Hong Kong

Diana S. Kwan

Email: [email protected]

Fu-Lai Tony Yu (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

1 Religious Conflicts and Violence in the Middle East

“No violence without (some) religion; no religion without (some) violence….

‘religion’ is the relation between the self (or some selves) and the other—some other.” (de Vries 2001: 1)

Religious and political conflicts are multifaceted, interrelated and recurrent. The Middle East remains as the world’s least peaceful region. In particular, the Jasmine Revolution began in Tunisia in 2011. It was followed by revolutionary protests and demonstrations in the Arab world, including Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The Arab Spring marked revolutions against secular rule, dictatorship, corruption and poverty. Islamic parties gained legitimacy and achieved significant success in free elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Conflicts between religious, orthodox, fundamentalist and secular groups become a new norm in the Middle East. Violent conflicts bring adverse effects on human settlement and economic development. The human costs of violence are insurmountable in terms of forced displacement, health and environmental hazards (Human Security Report Project 2011; United Nations Development Programme 2011; World Bank 2011a: 59–60; UNICEF 2018). Economically, the more likely the country is affected by armed violence, the lower the level of its economic development. On average, between 1981 and 2005, countries which experienced major violence had poverty level 21 percent higher than countries without violence (World Bank 2011a: 60). If armed conflicts persist, the gap between rich and poor countries will widen.

One form of religious and political conflicts is terrorist attack.¹ It is a major threat to global peace and security in the twenty-second century. Most terrorist attacks are armed attacks or suicide bombings against unarmed civilians by lone wolves, state or organized non-state militant groups. In 2016, there were over 4736 terrorist attacks in the Middle East and North Africa, especially in Iraq and Syria (Institute for Economics and Peace 2017: 45). Radical fundamentalist organizations play an important role in terrorist attacks. Sunni extremists account for almost 56 percent of all terrorist attacks (Geneva Declaration Secretariat 2011). The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, known as ISIL or ISIS, is the deadliest terrorist group, and is responsible for most of deaths that occurred in Iraq (Institute for Economics and Peace 2017).² It is a Salafist jihadist terrorist group that follows fundamentalism and Wahhabism. It pursues to expand the Islamic State (IS) by hostage-taking, terrorist attacks and territorial conquest.

With regard to all kinds of conflicts around the world, religion plays a prominent role on hostility and tension. Religious conflicts “sound the alarm” to world peace and security.³ Major religiously motivated attacks in the Middle East include Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing in 2008 and Palm Sunday church bombings in Egypt in 2017, to name a few (for major religious conflicts in the Middle East, see Table 1.1). Sectarian, radical fundamentalist and religious extremist organizations carry out violence, atrocities, terrorism and warfare. Larsson (2004: 106) argues that “religious violence is on any levels more logical and rational than purely secular forms of political violence, and its intensity further supports this argument” (italics original). Why do religious conflicts occur? Also, on what basis do religious believers claim holy duties in conflict? This issue is of utmost importance. Understanding the nature of the issue allows us to avoid conflict and violence and maintain global peace. Unfortunately, the nature of the issue is not properly understood. This chapter attempts to understand contemporary religious conflicts in the Middle East. It has two objectives. It puts forward a theory of social construction of religious belief and explains the origin of religious conflicts as knowledge conflict. The argument is applied to Christian-Muslim and Sunni-Shiite confrontations. This chapter begins by reviewing theories of religious conflicts (Sect. 2). A new theory of social construction of religious belief will be formulated (Sect. 3). The new theory is illustrated by three cases of religious conflicts in the Middle East, namely, (1) Christian-Muslim confrontation (Sects. 4 and 5), (2) Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflicts (Sect. 6) and (3) the Syrian War (Sect. 7). The chapter ends by suggesting a solution to religious conflicts (Sect. 8).

Table 1.1

Major religious conflicts in the Middle East

Country	Local intergroup conflict	‘Conventional’ political conflict	Transnational religious conflict
Iran		MEK (Mujaheden-e-Khalq) (1991–2001) PJAK (Free Life Party of Kurdistan) (2005–present) Jondullah (2006–present)	Al-Qaeda links with Jondullah
Iraq	Sectarian and ethnic violence between Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Kurds	KDP (Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq) (1991–93) PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) (1991–96)	Al-Qaeda, ISIS
Israel- Palestine		Fatah (1991–2002) Palestinian Islamic Jihad (2002–present) Hamas (2001–present) Hezbollah (1990–present)	Cross-border Islamic militant links
Syria		Syrian Armed Forces Shabiha Free Syrian Army Syrian Liberation Army	ISIL

Source: Adapted from the World Bank (2011b) and Institute for Economics and Peace (2012)

2 A Search for an Explanation of Religious Conflicts

Religion legitimates action in the name of God. Religious people believe that they are chosen by an absolute deity. Sacred actions are sanctioned and mandated by God. People who sacrifice themselves in the name of deity shall be blessed and rewarded. Religion is ambivalent as the source of peace and war (Appleby 2000). Believers struggle with the confrontation between God and Satan, sacred and profane, truth and evil, justice and injustice. In this section, we review the reasons underlying religious conflicts in terms of evolutionary, primordialist, psychoanalytic and scarce resource perspectives.

2.1 Evolutionary Perspective

Humans struggle to survive through competition. Evolutionary theories view religion as an adaptation of human agents to their environment. Religion emerges as an institution and evolves to enhance cooperation and cohesion within groups and hence a greater chance for survival. To compete for survival, between life and death, members within a religious group can sacrifice themselves for the common good (Dawkins 2004). Believers in a religious group develop belief and practices as a means to compete. Members of some religions are even empowered with the right to use violence against “pagans” (Juergensmeyer 2000: 218). Believers who use violence against pagans are to be freed from sins, bring eternality to themselves, families and communities (Elster 2006). If the religious faith is under threat, it is possible to develop “holy war, i.e., a war in the name of god, for the special purpose of avenging a sacrilege” (Weber [1925]1978: 473). Holy warriors fight in the name of God. After victory, believers convince non-believers the legitimacy of religion.

2.2 Primordialism

Group identity exists because there are traditions of belief toward primordial objects such as biological factors and territorial location. For example, in the concept of kinship, members of an ethnic group feel they share characteristics, origins or even blood relationship. Faith and family, blood and belief are “what people identify with and what they will fight and die for” (Huntington 1993: 192–194). Primordialism, in explaining religious conflicts, stresses on the commonalities and differences of religions. The rise of fundamentalism can be said to restore a sense of authenticity of religion by religious legitimization and moral justification. It is “a necessary prelude to the decisive intervention of God and the final vanquishing of the apostates” (Appleby 2002). Nations with common religion accommodate each other and form an alliance against those which are different. It is the origin of religious conflict.

2.3 Psychoanalytic Dimension

Religious faith provides people with a feeling of something true, complete and absolute. Religion helps people find fellowship and some control over their lives. It is a defense against feelings of their loneliness and powerlessness. People who turn to religion do so not out of devotion but in search of security. Furthermore, human is born with lust, anger and aggression. The society uses norms and institutions to suppress human basic instincts. Religion is an alternative for humans to release anger and aggression without destroying the society. It is a defense mechanism against psychotic anxiety (Freud 1964).

In practice, believers “set boundaries, protect the group from contamination, and preserve purity” (Marty and Appleby 1991: 821). They imitate each other in sacred text, sermons and rituals. Those people who do not believe in their God are regarded as pagans or even blasphemous....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• Part I. Political and Religious Conflicts in the Middle East
• Part II. Tensions in East Asia
• Part III. Political, Social and Environmental Challenges to Human Progress
• Part IV. The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Its Threats
• Back Matter