tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29566846.post1490568450084025246..comments2023-11-05T01:45:58.784-07:00Comments on The Hesperado: Islamic Democracy: The Winner of the "OXY" (the Oxymoron Award) of the CenturyHesperadohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10394374828751466705noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29566846.post-37335615980262368312012-01-22T14:14:03.449-08:002012-01-22T14:14:03.449-08:00Nobody,
Thanks for your detailed and knowledgeabl...Nobody,<br /><br />Thanks for your detailed and knowledgeable correctives. About perhaps only one point I might demur -- Saudi Arabia. While artificially or superficially it is a theocratic monarchy, it's a cobbled-together one, after some guy put his hand on a rock a mere 100 years ago and declared his family to be a dynasty then (with the help of Westerners) fought and killed enough other Muslims to become a "king". I see little difference between the pretensions of the first Saud and the pretensions of a Saddam or a Kaddafi. I.e., often in Islamic polities the line between a tin-pot dictatorship and a monarchy is blurred -- and this could well be argued for the patchwork of many of the vaunted "Sultanates" and "Emirates" of yore (and of our time) as well. That's why, if you notice, I left any specific names out of that category altogether, and intimated that the Caliphate remains the gold standard for the ideal.Hesperadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10394374828751466705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29566846.post-61407799901613910132012-01-22T00:12:07.924-08:002012-01-22T00:12:07.924-08:00Some observations on what you wrote:
1. Theocrat...Some observations on what you wrote:<br /><br />1. Theocratic monarchies - you forgot to mention the best example - Saudi Arabia, and to a lesser extent, Qatar, UAE, Bahrein & Kuwait (notwithstanding the rumored conversion of a Kuwaiti prince to Christianity)<br /><br />2. Tin pot dictatorships - Nasser's Egypt was not pro-Western @ all - it was pro-Soviet: it was Anwar Sadat who broke that trend. So Egypt falls under initially the anti-Western category for Nasser's reign, and then pro-Western category under Sadat & Mubarak. Pakistan is somewhat similar - was a pro-US dictatorship under Gen Zia & Nawaz Sharief, & anti-US under Bhutto and Musharraf (the latter's pretence notwithstanding).<br /><br />3. Progressive Muslim (not Islamic) democracy - so far, the only example I can think of is Kazakhstan. If it is somewhat authoritarian, it's more a residual result of being a part of the Soviet Union for 70 years. A good reason for that however is the fact that Russians were half the population @ independence, so Kazakhstan, although a member of the OIC, avoided calling itself exclusively an Islamic country. In the long term, however, I think that will change, since Russians in all the former republics have been emigrating back to Russia, while other people have been emigrating back to their countries e.g. Ukrainians have been returning to Ukraine, Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, Kazakhs to Kazakhstan. Today, Kazakhs are 70% of Kazakhstan's population, up from 45% 20 years ago, so in the long term, I won't be surprised to see them go Islamic.<br /><br />Similarly, Uzbekistan has been secular but an authoritarian dictatorship, cracking down on Muslims. But if they ever go democratic, they are likely to go Islamic as well. Turkmenistan has had a cult leader who died some years ago, but his cult remains, and has been forced into a parallel status w/ Islam. That country could end up being another Turkey.<br /><br />I agree that the Soviet examples are somewhat unique and different from the rest of the bunch. But most of them will likely be influenced by Turkey, and once that country goes completely Islamic (if it ain't already), these may well follow.<br /><br />Also, one thing worth noting in the above story is what the quran says about democracy, which is why it is impossible in a Muslim context.Nobodyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15936731686633423188noreply@blogger.com