In the near future, we may long for the benign days of Islamism

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jun 24, 2016 at 05:04

I don't share Marzouki's optimistic idealism. In his home Tunisia, the struggle for supremacy continues between nationalism and Islamism. Neither is dead, nor has any prospect of dying soon. The only "ism" I can imagine that he thinks will replace the above after their presumed deaths, is globalist liberalism. This is the reigning philosophy of the EU and its connected oligarchs. The "Brexit" victory today has dealt a mighty blow against this philosophy; and the coming probable victory of Donald Trump in October will deliver another crushing blow.

Let me explain: Islamism is a powerful ideological force: It has a unifying doctrine of world domination, and a set of rules that hundreds of millions of people have already submitted to. Nationalism is also a powerful force, having caused the demise of the mighty British, French and other pre-WWII colonial empires (Case in point: Tunisia was once a colony of France). Globalist Liberalism also promises world domination; and with unions such as the EU, NAFTA and NATO it has demonstrated the ability to impose government upon nations and peoples across national boundaries.

Globalist Liberalism will likely be with us for some time. There are many supra-national institutions in place that will not be all that easy to dismantle: The UN, the WTO, the IMF, the World Court, etc. Those four I listed here have already demonstrated an inability to solve some of the world's major problems. That's why other bodies, more intimately integrated than the above, have sprung up to replace them, such as NATO, which can field real armies instead of blue-helmeted "military tourists"; the EU and various free trade agreements, which exercise more power than the WTO.

As I said, this new "ism" is already facing strong headwinds. Brexit has cleaved a split in the heart of the EU; and once-mighty NATO has become "a diminished US military and some proteges". Brexit is already being threatened with follow-up fractures: Nexit (exit of the Netherlands), Dexit (...Denmark), even Frexit and Gexit (... France & Germany). As for NATO, President-to-be Trump has threatened its leaders to either shape up or ship out, and is not afraid to see it collapse. If/ when that happens, it will be rebuilt on a firmer foundation; but that foundation will not be liberalism nor any other "ism": It will be Empire, an empire such as the world has never known nor imagined.

...so yes, Islamism, Nationalism, etc. will all collapse and yield to the ultimate "ism" When that time comes, we may long for the comparatively benign days of Islamic Terrorism.

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