ISLAMISTS VS. SECULARISTS: THE BATTLE BETWEEN WORLD VIEWS
As the crisis in Egypt deepens it is becoming increasingly apparent that the enormous gulf that has opened up between the two sides represents a titanic clash of civilizations.
I blogged about this today in: “EGYPT TURMOIL: a clash of civilizations”
On the one side is the Muslim Brotherhood, a religious organization.
On the other is the Egyptian military, supported for decades by the United States, which would prefer a secular government.
The clashing world views seem, alas, to be irreconcilable.
It is modernism vs. traditionalism; tribalism vs. nationhood; secularism or religious authoritarianism.
There is no easy solution. Perhaps the dissolution is inevitable; many of these countries should never have existed in the first place.
We are, today, seeing the consequences of historical errors made by the colonial powers of the nineteenth century come back to haunt us. It is a human tragedy of vast proportions.