Research On Religion » Mali

Ann Wainscott on Morocco’s Religious Foreign Policy

tonygill — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 08:00:00 +0000

During the past two years, the Moroccan government has begun exporting various religious education programs as part of its foreign policy strategy in the North and West African region. Prof. Ann Wainscott, an assistant professor of political science at St. Louis University, explains how this new development is both an outgrowth if its domestic religious strategy, and a response to requests by other nations to adopt some of the policies implemented in Morocco. We also receive a fascinating lesson in the unique brand of Moroccan and West African Islam, indicating that Islam is really a variegated religious tradition, not the monolithic entity that is often assumed by Westerners.

The conversation begins with Tony pointing out that Ann previously appeared on the show as a graduate student, but now is calling in as a tenure-track professor at a superb university. We chat a little bit about the transition from graduate student to professor, and Ann offers up a few pieces of wisdom for others who are about to go on the academic job market.

We quickly turn to a discussion of recent developments in Morocco and some of the fascinating changes that have taken place since Ann was on the show two years ago. Prof. Wainscott reviews the recent history of Morocco and briefly summarizes the government’s domestic policy towards religion over the past four decades or so. Dating back to the 1960s/70s, the Moroccan monarchy promoted Islamic education as a means of building a national identity that would counter growing secular leftist movements of the time. This policy inadvertently gave rise to some Islamic extremism, resulting in a major terrorist attack in Casablanca in 2003. Since that time, the regime of King Mohammed VI has become more involved in the religious education system as a means of moderating the more radical elements of Islam and as a means to avoid the bloody civil conflict that beset Algeria during the 1990s. Ann then notes that this domestic educational policy has been of great interest to several other countries in the North and West African region, and there have been requests by these nations to help implement similar policies leading to a new religious foreign policy emphasis.

Before diving into the specifics of Morocco’s religious foreign policy turn, Dr. Wainscott helps us understand the unique nature of Moroccan (and West African) Islam. She lists five features that make Islam in this region unique. The first feature, which is the dominance of Sunni Islam is not particularly unique to the region, but it is different than Shia Islam that has been increasingly promoted in the region by Iran, and which has concerned the Moroccan regime. The second differentiating aspect of Moroccan Islam is its general adherence to the Maliki school of legal interpretation, which is more flexible perspective than other legal traditions. Ann also explains why legal interpretation is important in Islam. Next, and in a related vein, Moroccan (and West African Islam) favors the Ash’ari doctrine of scriptural interpretation. This way of looking at the Koran and other holy texts promotes the use of human reasoning, and not just rote adherence to holy texts, as a means of understanding one’s faith. Moroccans also tend to favor Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that emphasizes ones direct experience with Allah. Fifth, and finally, Moroccans and others in the general West African region, prefer a Warsh style of scriptural recitation. Ann explains how this gives oral readings a distinct dialect and serves as an important signal that the Koranic texts being read come from an interpretation of Islam that favors the other four characteristics mentioned above.

We then return to a discussion of Morocco’s new foreign policy of promoting this brand or “flavor” of Islam in other countries in the region (as well as in France, which has a sizable Moroccan population). Interestingly, Ann points out that a desire to promote religious education as part of its foreign policy was not simply a unilateral decision by the Moroccan government, but rather developed out of requests by other nations to adopt Moroccan policy. Concerned by the emergence of a radical Islamist separatist movement in northern Mali, many political leaders in the region wanted a model for a more moderate and controlled Islam. Morocco’s experience proved tempting. Ann then argues that the success of Morocco in promoting its policies of religious education abroad are the result of three factors: 1) Morocco’s cultural and historical legitimacy in the region; 2) the pre-existing institutions that Morocco has built over the years; and 3) linking religious education with increased economic trade. Ann details several of the ongoing efforts to train regional religious scholars in Morocco, as well as to promote different scholarly associations abroad. Prof. Wainscott points out the strength of these initiatives by noting that King Mohammed VI has made several trips to other countries to promote these efforts and build new relationships. While seemingly innocuous to citizens in Western democracies, trips by monarchs or autocrats in less-than-democratic regimes often raise the probability of a coup, thus such trips by Mohammed VI are very notable. We finish with some of Ann’s reflections on these recent developments. While the promotion of more moderate forms of Islam may fall in favor with Western diplomats battling the “war on terror,” the increasing involvement by the government in training clergy is of concern in that it weakens a traditional buffer between the state and the citizenry. Recorded: September 1, 2015.

Paul Kubicek on Islam, Political Islam, and Democracy

tonygill — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 08:00:34 +0000

Can Islamic nations craft functioning democracies? While a cursory glance at the Arab Middle East would suggest the difficulty with such a task, Dr. Paul Kubicek, professor of political science at Oakland University, discusses his comparative research that shows a number of tentative successes with democracy in the Muslim world. We discuss Turkey and a number of other countries that receive little attention in the popular media such as Senegal, Mali, Tunisia, and Bangladesh. While many of these countries have experienced democracy in the past decade or so, and some of them (e.g., Bangladesh) still face significant challenges, Prof. Kubicek’s research shows that Islam and democracy are not necessarily incompatible.

As per usual, Tony asks Paul about his background with particular attention to how someone who studied post-communist nations in eastern Europe would end up taking a job in Istanbul at Koc University, especially since he had never visited that nation prior to his job interview and did not know Turkish. We chat a bit about his time there and his reflections on being a “stranger in a strange land.” It was his three year stint as a professor at Koc that created the seeds of interest that eventually became the basis of his book Political Islam and Democracy in the Muslim World.

We then take care of a few definitional issues talking about what democracy is and where nations in the Muslim world — stretching from Morocco to Malaysia — fit in comparative perspective. Paul notes that on empirical scores of democracy (mainly from the Polity data set), Muslim countries score significantly lower (i.e., less democratic) than the non-Muslim world. He reviews a number of reasons other scholars have advanced for this “democratic deficit,” including theories about poverty’s relationship to democracy, the “resource curse,” and some political culture factors, as well as hypotheses linking Islam’s incompatibility with democratic governance. We then talk a bit about the variation within Islam — not a monolithic religion by any means — and briefly explore the topic of political Islam.

The last half of our interview surveys a number of countries that have had some success with democratization. We start with Turkey, the country that was Paul’s home for three years. He reviews the history of that nation and notes how religion was removed from political consideration during and following Kemal Ataturk’s rule. Paul then talks about the democratization process and how it has opened up to individuals who want a more public space to express their religion and the rise of the Justice & Development Party (AKP). While there has been a few steps backwards in terms of free speech and other civil liberties, Paul does not attribute this to Islam per se, but rather just the natural desire of governments to want more power. We also discuss the pull that Europe has had on the political landscape of Turkey, and Paul notes that while Europe did exert some influence towards democratization in the 1990s, this influence has faded in the past decade.

We then move on to a number of lesser-known countries, starting with Senegal — a west African nation that has shown considerable success with democratic governance. Again, Paul reviews the history of this country (a former French colony) and explains how the “national brand” of Islam, which is Sufi-based, assisted (or at least did not inhibit) the process of democratization. Paul points out that a great deal of toleration for other religions exists in this country and a number of the first presidents were, in fact, non-Muslims. We then travel a bit to the northeast to look at Mali. Of all the countries examined in his book, Mali would appear to be the least conducive to democracy given its low GDP per capita and high rates of illiteracy. Nonetheless, beginning in 1992, the country moved in a democratic direction with competitive elections. A brief military coup in 2012 prompted by separatist unrest in the north was short-lived as the generals handed back power to civilians. Bangladesh is then offered up as a case where things have not progressed as well and Paul explains how “creeping Islamization” from Pakistan has caused backtracking on a variety of civil liberties.

We finish off the interview with some discussion of the Arab Spring, a movement starting back in 2011 that offered hope for political liberalization in North Africa and the Middle East, but which has not been as successful in that area as was hoped. Paul points out that Tunisia, the point of origin for the Arab Spring, is doing well with respect to democratic liberalization but other countries have floundered, including Egypt. Paul offers up some final thoughts on the political future of the region. Recorded: July 2, 2015.