In the immediate aftermath of World War I, the pioneers of Western colonialism occupied the whole Islamic world. In the Cold War period, which emerged after World War II, a bipolar world order was established in which a nuclear balance was preventing excessive foreign policy from major international agents. Thus, the United States and the Soviet Union were simultaneously balancing each other, while the focus was on the two big powers, leftist and rightist intellectuals have criticized injustices committed elsewhere in the world stage. After the end of the Cold War, the triumphant U.S. unlawfully occupied Iraq and Afghanistan when the mechanisms of the Cold War's checks and balances disappeared. Indeed, since Iraq was occupied, without relying on any lawful, moral or legitimate cause, the state of exception has become the rule of the country. What's worse, the U.S. occupation of Iraq has enabled Iran to penetrate the country step by step. Eventually, Daesh has emerged from the lasting chaos in Iraq and Syria, which an international coalition composed of 60 countries has been trying to counteract. In an overview, the battlefields of the present world are almost solely composed of the Muslim lands.
Occupied first by Russia and then by the U.S., Afghanistan was eventually left to the mercy of terrorist organizations. Along a similar line, post-war Iraq was left to the mercy of the al-Qaeda, Daesh and the ferocious Shiite militia of Iran. Meanwhile, the United Nations has continued to remain in a state of inertia offering up no solutions to the conflicts.
It is still ambiguous whether the U.S. has a strict and determinate policy on the Middle East, while the present series of events seems to lead toward the total destruction of the Muslim world. Perhaps, the U.S. policy over the Middle East, which we denominate as "hesitant" and "ambiguous," might be an intentional policy of bringing chaos and destruction to the Islamic world.
In the 1970s, a spirit of solidarity and fraternity predominated among the Muslim countries for embracing their own lands and culture. While the Muslim youth was hoping for a better future for their region as a whole, almost all Muslims had begun to trust each other without making any discrimination between their races and religious sects. Correspondingly, a dense exchange of information in the fields of economy, politics and culture was intensifying the already existent interdependence among the Muslim populations.
In this respect, the case of Iran becomes a perfect example for demonstrating the aforementioned solidarity among the Muslim countries and its unintended consequences. During the nuclear negotiations between the Western countries and Iran, Turkey and Brazil got the latter country off the hook. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, played the role of arbiter between Iran and the West promoting world peace and the Muslim country at the same time, all the while Iran distrusted Turkey as the representative of the U.S. interests in the Middle East.
In Aleppo thousands of people live on the brink of starvation, while a million people in Mosul are waiting to not only be rescued from the Daesh, but also to be protected against a prospective slaughter at the hands of the Iranian Shiite militia. An ongoing bloodshed continues in Yemen, while Muslims cannot enjoy even the most basic human rights in Myanmar or in Libya where people are under the oppression of the Daesh. In Palestine, a 50-year long occupation continues, while Boko Haram plays the role of the Daesh in Africa.
All these injustices, grave injuries, occupations, wars and the eventual chaos could easily lead to a third world war. Although we have lost our faith in world justice, we will always continue to believe in the divine justice. A tiny minority live with 40-50 thousand dollars of monthly income, while almost a half of the world's population live amidst hunger, exploitation, wars and oppression. Such an immense magnitude of injustice and inequality in the world should certainly suffice to keep those who care at up at night.
About the author
İhsan Aktaş is Chairman of the Board of GENAR Research Company. He is an academic at the Department of Communication at Istanbul Medipol University.
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