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.

William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, & the Arab Spring

tonygill — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:00:23 +0000

With political events rapidly unfolding in Egypt, Syria, and other parts of the Middle East, we visit with Prof. William Inboden, distinguished scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security at the University of Texas and an associate scholar with Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Prof. Inboden not only brings his extensive scholarship to bear on the issue of religious freedom and the Arab Spring, but his many years serving as a policy advisor in the US State Department and National Security Council provides him with another unique perspective on how the issue of religious liberty can and should shape US foreign policy. We begin with a discussion of what the Arab Spring is, how it started, and where it might be headed. Prof. Inboden notes that scholars are starting to rename the Arab “Spring,” the Arab “Awakening” as there is some growing concern that what appeared to initially be popular uprisings in support of liberal democratic forms of government may now be moving in a more autocratic direction. We discuss why this might be. Our attention then turns to the topic of religious liberty, which Will considers to be an important bellwether for liberal democracy in general. Prof. Inboden explains how religious freedom can help neutralize extremism and notes that religious liberty is not just important for religious minorities such as the Christian Copts, but is a vital civil liberty for Muslims as well. Far from being a monolithic religious bloc, Islam actually has many different “flavors” and Muslims who hold more moderate views on a number of topics would also benefit immensely from greater religious freedom and toleration in their societies. We also discuss the state of non-Muslim religious minorities now in such countries as Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria. Much of this discussion is informed by Will’s participation in a Berkley Center symposium “Religious Freedom and Religious Extremism: Lessons from the Arab Spring” (see link below), involving past and current policymakers such as Elliott Abrams, Stephen Hadley, and Dennis Ross. Our conversation shifts towards foreign policy and Will makes an argument that the promotion of religious freedom needs to be a key component of US relations with the Middle East. Using examples from Afghanistan, he points out how religious freedom is necessarily an issue of national security and not just some lofty goal that is desired unto itself. Tony pushes back with counter-arguments that promoting religious liberty can be seen as cultural imperialism, to which Will notes that while national leaders in autocratic regimes often make this argument, average citizens around the world have been shown to embrace the rights of conscience and worship when it is offered to them. Recorded: November 28, 2012.

Research On Religion » Mohamed Morsi

Paul Kubicek on Islam, Political Islam, and Democracy

William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, & the Arab Spring