Author: Nassef Manabilang Adiong

Nassef is the founder of Co-IRIS (International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort), PHISO (Philippine International Studies Organization), DSRN (Decolonial Studies Research Network), and BRLN (Bangsamoro Research and Legal Network). He works on interdisciplinary research between Islam and International Relations and explores the Bangsamoro society as he heads the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) of the Bangsamoro Parliament. Visit https://nassef.info/ for more details.

Panel 2/9: Frameworks/Paradigms between IR & Islam: Nation-State, Ummah, (Trans)Nationalism, and Geopolitics

8th Pan – European Conference on International Relations
Theme: One International Relations or Many? Multiple Worlds, Multiple Crises
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 September 2013
Warsaw, Poland
Organised by the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations and EISA in cooperation with the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw and the Polish Association for International Studies.


This panel indicates and explains frameworks and/or paradigms between International Relations and Islam.

Chair: Prof. Dr. Mohammed Ayoob is the University Distinguished Professor of International Relations at Michigan State University.
Discussant:Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Ragionieri (University of Sassari, Italy)

Paper Presenters:

Beyond the Paradigm of Nation-State System: Perspectives on Islam and International Relations
Dr. Mohammad Mohibul Haque (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, India)
 Since its inception the normative value of Islam in structuring or restructuring of the Muslim societies cannot be underestimated. In fact Islam claims to provide an elaborate framework of governance and conduct of foreign relations. This framework is all comprehensive and encompasses all walks of life i.e., social, political, economic and cultural. However, this framework needs to be understood and analyzed in a different paradigm. Application of modern political theories, approaches, and methodologies for understanding the interface of Islam and international relations will be quite misleading. Therefore, a completely new or at least a different paradigm is needed to understand this interface. The proposed paper is a modest attempt to delve into the problems of understanding international relations conducted by Muslim societies with the help of contemporary political theory which is State-centric. The paper seeks to examine the following issues:
• The limitations of the contemporary political theory in understanding the political institutions created and promoted by Islam. The contemporary political theory begins and ends with State whereas the modern sovereign nation- states and their attributes are different from the commonwealth envisaged by Islam.
• The political institutions constructed and the political ethics promoted by Islam cannot be understood in isolation from their epistemological and historical root.
• Neither the idealism nor the realism of contemporary international relations is in complete harmony with the politico-religious values and milieus of Islam.
• The implications of a religious approach to politics and political approach to religion.
• Contemporary globalization versus Islamic universalization.  
CAM Analysis of Nation-State in IR and Islam
Nassef Manabilang Adiong (Convener, IR-IS Research Cohort)
The elemental subject of this study is the concept of ‘nation-state’ but delimited within the bounds of two disciplines, i.e. International Relations (IR) and Islamic Studies (IslStud), particularly Political Islam and Jurisprudence. This is in part of the author’s aim of contributing to the evolving literature on the relation of IR and religion in the 21st century. The defining problem lies in the vagueness of interpretations and understanding on the conceptualization of nation-state in those mentioned disciplines while subsequently reaching a ‘via media’ of understanding. To ameliorate our focal understanding, the proponent selected two frameworks: 1) a selective mainstream theoretical IR survey, i.e. Liberalism, Realism, and Social Constructivism only, and 2) Islamic jurisprudential and political understanding of nation-state. It will humbly try to examine, analyze, and decipher the origin, idea, and operationalization of nation-state in IR and IslStud by the usage of Comparative Analytical Method (CAM). Three data analytical or coding stages under CAM will be operationalized: the first stage is setting the Textual Codes via alpha-numerical representation next is processing the Arithmetical Codes and the last step is determining the Categorical Codes. Through these CAM codes, the inferential chart of ‘compare and contrast’ will compose the result of data analysis. Thus, allowing us to categorically pinpoint inferences of similarities and differences, and further it through the use of analytical induction, which is, inducing it to specific facts or imperative details. In generalization, there were foreseen differences and/or similarities on the notions of level of analysis, sovereignty, citizenship, and territoriality.
Relationships of Transnational Islam and Local Political Islam
Delmus Puneri Salim (Islamic College STAIN Manado, Indonesia)
Since the implementation of decentralisation, local governments in majority Muslim regions across Indonesia have begun to promote, and in many cases pass regulations that mandate, forms of social or economic behaviour seen to be compatible with Islam. This paper situates the political construction of Islamic behaviour in West Sumatra and in Indonesia more generally within an historical context in which rulers have in some way engaged with aspects of Islamic practice since the Islamic kingdom era. Its main concern has been to show that while formal local Islamic regulations of this kind constitute a new development, their introduction has been a product of the same kinds of interactions between international, national and local elements that have characterised the relationship between Islam and politics through the course of Indonesian history. In doing so, the paper challenges the scholarly tendency to over-emphasise local political concerns when explaining this phenomenon, arguing that it is necessary to forefront the complex relationship between local politics and developments in the wider Islamic world.
Cultural Impact on the Concept of Nationalism: Transnational Ummah and Zionist State
**Karim Khashaba (Duisburg-Essen University, Germany)
This contribution is concerned with the study of the nation-state and transnational nations, and their impact on ground. Though there had been attention paid tracking the concept of nation in theory , the comparative study did not receive the same amount of attention. Therefore, the study takes into account this aspect that not many researchers had focused on, nor did they pay the necessary attention to the comparative, cultural and critical methodology in tackling such a topic. The problematic around the concept of Nation is the criticisms that used to address the concept through the rising theoretical paradigms in the International Relations field. The Nation-State, which was the main –or even the only- pillar in the relations between states since Westphalia Treaty (1648), is no longer enjoying the same uniqueness due to the changes affecting the contemporary International Relations. Among of which is the rising influences of culture. Perhaps the controversy over the concept of the nation is due to its appearance in the framework of International Relations, in which the nation-state plays the key role in bilateral and multi-lateral relations between the countries. Accordingly, and on the level of the nation, the dilemma of the relationship between the national interest (of the nation-state) and the association of faith (of the Islamic nation on the one hand and Jewish Zionism on the other hand) has turned salient in the light of the global challenges taking place in the contemporary world order.
**Withdrew due to financial constraint.

Geography, Shi‘ism, and Islam in the Geopolitics and International Relations of Iran and Iraq: Frameworks and Layers of Understandings
Dr. Raffaele Mauriello (born July 1974) is an Italian historian of the modern Middle East. He holds a PhD in Islamic Civilization: History and Philology from the Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy). He has published several peer-reviewed essays on Shi’a Islam history and on Iranian and Iraqi geopolitical affairs and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian. In 2013, he was awarded the World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field of Islamic Studies.
Reflecting the growing influence of Shi‘i Islam experts in determining U.S. foreign policy toward the Muslim world, early in his first term in office Obama appointed Vali Nasr as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Already facing the existing difficulties of developing a workable idea of an Islamic IR theory, scholars, practitioners, and students of IR have however shown little coherent understanding and structured knowledge of Shi‘itology. A field of enquiry in its own right, this used to belong exclusively to a few scholars of Islamic Studies within the Euro-American academia but is increasingly unavoidable for anyone interested in deciphering current Islamic political discourses and the dynamics gradually dominating contemporary international relations. This paper delineates and conceptualizes some major frameworks and layers of understandings IR scholars should be aware of when researching the geopolitics and international relations of countries with a significant Shi‘a presence, taking as case study Iran and Iraq. In particular, it problematizes the different and possibly alternative roles that geography, Shi‘ism, and Islam play in the geopolitics of these countries.


Panel 3/9: Frameworks/Paradigms between IR & Islam: Classical Treaties, International Law, Shari’ah, and Internationalization of Human Society

8th Pan – European Conference on International Relations
Theme: One International Relations or Many? Multiple Worlds, Multiple Crises
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 September 2013
Warsaw, Poland
Organised by the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations and EISA in cooperation with the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw and the Polish Association for International Studies.


This panel indicates and explains frameworks and/or paradigms between International Relations and Islam.

Chair:Prof. Dr. Turan Kayaoglu (Associate Professor of International Relations, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Tacoma)
Discussant:Prof. Dr. Maurits S. Berger, LLM is the Professor of Islam in the contemporary West and the Sultan of Oman Chair for Oriental Studies of the Institute for Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’.

Paper Presenters:

Treaties as an Important Source of International Relations in Islam: Approaching some Treaties of Classical and Pre-Modern Era in Contemporary Context
Tauseef Ahmad Parray is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, India, and Sadia Jabeen is a PhD Research Scholar, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Treaties are an important source of Islamic International Law. From the classical period to the pre-modern times, there have been treaties, pacts and alliances between Muslims and non-Muslims that have proved to be very helpful as far as International relations in Islam are concerned. In this direction, in this paper, five (5) treaties, both of classical as well as of modern era, will be assessed and evaluated from the contemporary perspective. These four treaties are: i) Constitution of Medina, ii) Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (March 628/6 AH), iii) Treaty of Umar, iv) Treaty of 1535 between Sultan Mehmet and Frances of France, and v) Ottoman treaty with Russia in 1739. These treaties can act as “models” in the present times as well to establish friendly relations with non-Muslims countries and nation-states in various fields, socio-economic, scientific and technological, and other relations.
Types of Treaties in Islamic International Law: A Comparative Analysis with Public International Law
Prof. Muhammad Zia Ul Haq (International Islamic University,Islamabad, Pakistan)
Historically, Muslim societies have always been keen to interact with other nations and civilizations for the settlement of disputes. For this purpose, they used international negotiations as a tool. In the early period of Islam, as a result of international negotiations, Muslims successfully entered into many international treaties, agreements, and charters. These agreements and charters, which were completed during the period of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and early Caliphs, later on became not only historical documents, describing a formative period of Islamic civilization, but also became sources of Islamic International Law. These agreements also contributed directly or indirectly to the development of modern international law. The legitimacy of international treaties is proved from Quran and Sunnah, and Quran has clearly instructed the Muslims, not only to respond positively when called for peaceful treaties, but also instructed them to fulfill their commitments. The same has been expressed in the Sunnah of Holy Prophet (PBUH), who himself concluded many international treaties, charters, and agreements. Muslims jurists have divided international treaties and agreements in various categories, such as, agreements of friendship, peace treaties, trade treaties, treaties for protection, and forced treaties. In Islamic Law, treaties must be conducted by the authorized personality, it should be for the protection of the interests of Muslims, it should not be a void treaty, and periods of treaties should also be fixed. Along with types and conditions of international treaties, Muslim jurists have also provided detailed rulings of Shariah regarding compliance with international treaties. They have also spoken of ways and mechanisms for termination of treaties. The possibilities of permanent international peace treaties were also deliberated upon by Muslim jurists. The types of agreements, its conditions, authority for conducting international agreements, and termination of international agreements in international law, are not too dissimilar to Islamic International Law. However, rulings of Shariah regarding these issues were established centuries before the evolution of modern international law. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out, that Islamic International Legal thought has contributed directly or indirectly in the development of modern international law and the treatise of Muslim jurists that were developed and complied during 9th Century C.E., may have been used as sources of rules of international law on treaties by European scholars in the 16th Century.
The Impact of Islamic Treaties on the Development of the Doctrine of Liberty of Faith in Contemporary International Law
Rizwan Faiz Muhammad (International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan)
The doctrine of liberty of faith has a central place in contemporary international law. Modern developments in this area of international law begun in the 19th century, and the doctrine was subsequently accepted as a part of customary international law, and incorporated in international law through various instruments, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights. Contrary to certain perceptions regarding early Islamic interactions with people of other faiths, Islamic treaties, from the earliest days of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and the early Caliphs, as well as in later years, placed a significant amount of focus on liberty of faith, as a central theme in dealing with other nations, and people of other faiths. This stems from a fundamental principle set out in the Holy Quran, whereby there is be no compulsion in matters of faith. Islamic International Law has not treated this injunction as mere theological belief, but has incorporated this as a principle of dealing with people of different faiths. Islam came into contact, often hostile, with people of other faiths from its very inception. Despite the hostile nature of such contacts, Islamic treaty making, starting from the Misaq of Madina, the Treaty of Hudaibiya, and subsequent treaties after the conquest of Mecca, shows that liberty of faith has as a matter of policy and practice, was given paramount importance from the very beginning, thus setting a precedent for future development of Islamic International Law, and Shariah rulings on the subject. The present article aims to analyze a number of early Islamic treaties, including specifically the treaty with the People of Najran, Treaty with the People of Jerusalem, the Treaty of Lud, and select subsequent treaties by Muslim rulers, and related Shariah rulings by early scholars, from the perspective of the doctrine of liberty of faith, in order to understand the impact of Islamic International Law on the genesis and development of the doctrine of liberty of faith in modern international law.
Significance of Islamic (Shariah) Law in Contemporary International Relations
Tahira Ifraq (International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan)
Shariah Law has combined in itself, not only what law ‘is’ but also what law ‘ought to be’. It is in short, the ‘is’ and the ‘ought to’ of law and thus positive as well as ideal and may aptly to be described as the Positive law in Ideal form. Islam considered life as an organic whole, all its parts to be governed by Islamic Law, hence the conception “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,and render unto God the things that are God’s” has no applicability to it. Islam is a universal religion so as is its law. Majid Khadduri has points out that the relevance of comparative studies of Islamic Law of War and Peace is inbuilt in the interpretation of Article of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, under which the Court applies “the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations.” There is now so much interest in the debate over the question whether the international law of which Hugo Grotius is often called the father is so completely Western-European in inspiration and outlook as to make it unsuitable for universal application in these days of a much wider and more varied international community of states .The attention recently paid-both in scholarly writing and in international arbitral awards-to Asian, Middle Eastern, and Islamic precursors of the law of nations has revealed how widely certain concepts have influenced man’s thought as problems concerning the interrelationships of various groups have been faced throughout history. Therefore it has to be understood that the various systems of international relations including Islamic has contemporary significance for the better International Relations and world peace. The is the purpose of this article which will focused on tracing the contemporary significance of Shariah Law in international relations.
Islam’s Role in Internationalization of Human Society
Dr. Abdul Qaddus Suhaib (Bahauddin Zakariya University,Multan, Pakistan)
Islam’s perspective, insofar relations with other societies and civilizations is concerned, has always been outward looking. From the early days of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), the Muslim State tried to establish friendly relations with neighboring, as well as distant states. Thus, even before the age of conquests, Muslims and Islam were rather well-known in even remote areas of the world at the time. Subsequently, the spread of Islam owes much to the travelers, traders and other individuals who ventured as far as China, and the heart of Africa, and their travels have been well-documented. Contemporary perspectives of Islam often consider it to be an inward looking religion where contact and interaction with other societies is shunned and discouraged. Although these perspectives are based on observations and analysis of recent practices, such practices are often the result of regional political and social phenomenon, and are restricted to certain areas within the Muslim world, and can be explained through various phenomenons which are not linked with the teachings of Islam. The current article aims to examine Islamic teachings and practices regarding interaction with other societies and civilizations, in order to examine Islam’s role in internationalization of Human Society, and to study the role played by Muslim civilization in the development of other civilizations in adoption and adaptation, as well as its role as a bridge between different civilizations.

Panel 4/9: Frameworks/Paradigms between IR & Islam: International Society/Organization, Globalization, and Regionalization

8th Pan – European Conference on International Relations
Theme: One International Relations or Many? Multiple Worlds, Multiple Crises
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 September 2013
Warsaw, Poland
Organised by the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations and EISA in cooperation with the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw and the Polish Association for International Studies.


This panel indicates and explains frameworks and/or paradigms between International Relations and Islam.

Chair:Prof. Dr. Maria do Céu de Pinho Ferreira Pinto (University of Minho, Portugal)
Discussant:Prof. Dr. Katerina Dalacoura is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Paper Presenters:

Islamist Norm Entrepreneurs in International Society: Why, How and When do Religious Norms Diffuse in Liberal International Organizations?
Gregorio Bettiza is currently a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI). Gregorio holds PhD in International Relations from LSE and his research focuses on religion and secularism in international relations. And, Filippo Dionigi is currently Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE). Filippo holds PhD in International Relations from LSE and is interested in research on international norms and Islamist movements especially in the Middle East.
Constructivist scholars have systematically neglected the mechanisms of diffusion of religiously based non-Western norms in liberal settings. In recent decades the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has become an increasingly influential international actor through which Muslim-majority states channel their normative concerns in international society. In particular the OIC has become actively engaged in promoting international norms that challenge, often from an Islamic perspective, hegemonic secular liberal values embedded within the institutions of international society. The paper focuses on two norms that the OIC has attempted to promote within the United Nations (UN) since the 1990s. The first are “dialogue of civilizations” norms. These were successfully institutionalized in 2005, after gathering substantial backing from Western states, with a major UN initiative, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. The second are “religious defamation” norms. These, instead, were relentlessly opposed by Western states and led only to a minor and vague initiative largely outside the UN’s purview in 2011, the Istanbul Process. What explains these diverging results? The paper contends that religiously based non-Western norms have the greatest chances of being fully institutionalized within the UN, an international organization deeply embedded in and constitutive of the liberal international order, only when they can be effectively “translated” into secular liberal norms
The United Nations in Muslim Political Thought and Discourse
Prof. Dr. Turan Kayaoglu (Associate Professor of International Relations, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Tacoma)
This paper analyzes four views on Muslim engagement in the United Nations: rejectionist, realist, Islamic-conservatives, and liberal. The rejectionist views the Muslim engagement with the UN as harmful to the Muslim cause because the UN rests on values such as state sovereignty, secularism, and cooperation incompatible with Islamic political values such as the umma, shari’ah, and dar-ul Islam versus dar-ul Harb. The realist also rejects the Muslim engagement with the UN not because of its incompatibility with Islamic values but because of the imbalance of power within the UN between the great powers and Muslim-majority states. Specifically, the American influence over the UN combined with the deep resentment of American politics towards the Muslim world prompts this group to be very cynical about the UN. The Islamic-conservative views the UN as a forum which can be utilized to demonstrate and defend the truth of Islam and to protect and promote Muslim interest by influencing its normative and political structure. The liberal perspective views the UN useful not just for serving to Muslim interests but for the common good of broader international community.
Possible Synergies between Cultural Globalization, Identity Affiliations and Islamic Religion
Dr. Julien Pelissier (University of Tehran, Iran)
The concepts of cultural globalization and Islamic religion’s revival on the international arena are sometimes viewed as competitors or even as antagonists. By inducing two systems of thought, they are supposed to develop feelings of unfitted cultural affiliation that would lead to the emergence of more or less significant identity conflicts. But we try to see here that, once agreed on the definitions to give to them, cultural globalization and Islam may not be antagonistic, but rather complementary and even unseparated on the path of a “world unification”. We try to show here that Islam, as far as it is well-understood and practiced, allows multiple relationships and affiliations which fit all the best with challenges raised by cultural globalization. And indeed, should this assertion be proved to be correct, no doubt that the cultural development of a globalized world would not have to solve as many as false identity and cultural problems hindering this very preventable process. To that extent, this brief article aims at improving the basis for a better understanding of possible synergies, at the cultural level, between the global process of cultural unification on the one hand and the Islamic revival on the other hand. This endeavor would rely on anthropological concepts formulated by Western thinkers (Hall, Vultur, Harvey, Giddens, Hannerz, Mattelard, Tomlinson, Morin…) as well as theological concepts mostly derived from Quran and widely accepted prophetic narrations concerning the very idea of universalism and globalization. This article would however merely deal with concrete steps to be taken in order to match what can be considered as two major cultural influences in process: cultural globalization and Islamic revival.
Regional Integration and Crises on the Persian Gulf Sub-region. Casus of Gulf Cooperation Council
Dr. Wojciech Jerzy Grabowski, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Institute (Asian and African States section) at Gdansk University. He is the author of the monograph “Muslim fundamentalism in the Middle East” and of many articles on various subject matters in the international relations field, especially regional, Middle Eastern order, role of Islam and fundamentalism in politics, influence of terrorism on the states functioning. He was involved in EU grants dedicated to these issues and NATO workshops dedicated perseverance of terrorism: focus on leaders. Currently, he is involved in exploring regionalization processes in the Persian Gulf sub-region. He is a member of the Polish Association of International Studies and European Institute of Security.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) helps to constitute boundaries of inclusion and exclusion that strengthen six states in the region, characterized by revisionist powers. By participants of the GCC it is viewed as an institution leading sub-region to the broader Arab unity. During the Gulf War 1990/91 participating states were not willing to resolve common, sub-regional problem, but they were looking for the help from non-Arab states. Processes of the regionalization help to generalize conditions or people within sub-regional boundaries speaking about Gulf policies, business, identity opposed to Arab spheres of activities. The GCC poses a forum of exchange of political views. But the GCC stands in front of challenges of the inclusion non-dynastic Yemen and post-Saddam Iraq which would have significant consequences for the security and economic fields of the sub-region. One of the problem of the organization is unfulfilled promises which damage credibility of the organization. This may poses real threat to the objectives of the GCC. The basic question I will try to find an answer to is: does the GCC guarantee security to its members in the broad sense or does the GCC member-states have to seek the security through bilateral agreements with external powers?
Overcoming the Crisis of Islam and Buddhism – Institutionalizing Peace Building for Regional Organizations
Amjad Saleem is currently working as Head of Communications for The Cordoba Foundation, an independent policy, research and public relations think tank based in London promoting intercultural dialogue, peace building and positive coexistence among communities by advocating  dialogue and promoting action to develop understanding and acceptance of inter-communal and inter-religious issues in particular improving the understanding between the Muslim World and the West and vice-versa.
Incidents in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand, show an increasing tendency for a clash between proponents of Theravada Buddhism and Islam.   This religious  based ethnic  identity put forward by this particular strand of Buddhism poses a great threat not only to religious freedoms in the region of South and South East Asia but also to future security.  The intolerance of Buddhism has become in part due to a  more militant, violent and ultimately intolerant ideology. However,  it is also due as a response, according to Buddhists, to the increasing perceived conservatism of Muslims across the region as a result of global Islamic reawakening and reformation.  The accusation is that it is ‘the rise of Wahabi and Salafi movements’ that is affecting the relationships between the communities, but it is more deeper entrenched than that. This paper will argue about the need to incorporate  peacebuilding and conflict resolution  mechanisms within aspects of diplomacy so that regional organizations like the OIC and ASEAN can work at a more efficient level and ensure that the region of South and South East Asia are not affected.

Panel 5/9: General/Case Studies between IR & Islam: Foreign Policies and Dynamics of the Arab Spring Effect(s)

8th Pan – European Conference on International Relations
Theme: One International Relations or Many? Multiple Worlds, Multiple Crises
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 September 2013
Warsaw, Poland
Organised by the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations and EISA in cooperation with the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw and the Polish Association for International Studies.

This panel shows general and/or case studies between International Relations and Islam. 

Chair:Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Ragionieri (University of Sassari, Italy)
Discussant:Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zia Ul Haq (International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan)

Paper Presenters:

The Islamist Discourse under Scrutiny in the Aftermath of the Arab Spring: An Analysis of Key Islamist Conceptions of Political Life
Prof. Maria do Céu de Pinho Ferreira Pinto (University of Minho, Portugal)
For many decades, political Islamists have benefited from a privileged position, since they acted as the only option to the existing Arab regimes, building on the rejection of the status quo without elaborating on their alternative. They did not need to come up with specific policy prescriptions and, in fact, could hardly provide a clear scenario for society and the political process should they come to power. But once competing for elections and taking on the responsibility to govern, they will be forced to explain their political rationale. This paper offers a critical exploration of the impact the new political and social conditions are having on Islamist political concepts. The electoral success of Islamist parties will put pressure on them to, at long last, define the relation between theory and practice. We will reflect on the implications of the uprisings on the Islamist movements’ evolution, namely their concepts of democracy, the civil state, the separation of powers, and the Sharia and human rights.
The Impact of the Arabic-Islamic Spring on the GCC countries: The Case of Kuwait**
Dr. Haila Al-Mekaimi, Ph.D is the Head of Euro-Gulf Research Unit and Assistant Professor at Department of Political Science in the University of Kuwait.
Arab states across the region has been affected by the event of the Arab spring, which turned to be “An Islamic Spring” after the Islamist’s domination of the political Scene. Depite the massive Western Support for the Islamists in power, the Islamists particularly in Egypt and Tunisia failed to achieve the goals of the revolutionaries in economic and political reforms, which will have a great affect on the political future of the Islamists in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This paper is an attempt to evaluate the impact of the Arabic-Islamic Spring on the GCC countries, with a focus on the case of Kuwait. This paper asks what kind of affect of these political changes on the political movement in Kuwait? How the Kuwaiti Islamists responded to the different cases of the Arab spring including in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain and how the Islamist political mismanagement in these countries affect their counterparts in Kuwait.
**Withdrew her participation.

Modernity, Secularism and ‘Islamic’ Conceptions of Democracy: The Case of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Prof. Dr. Katerina Dalacoura is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Is democracy a Western concept, inapplicable to other cultures? Are conceptions of democracy across the globe incongruous with one another? Such questions have long been debated but, more often than not, on rather abstract ideational, theological or philosophical levels. This paper complements these important discussions by focusing on concrete proposals by an Islamist political actor on how the term ‘democracy’ is understood. Specifically, the article draws material from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s reaction to the Bush administration’s democracy promotion policies in the Middle East in the post 9/11 period, and its 2007 political party platform, to demonstrate that an ‘Islamic’ conception of democracy is shaped by history and ideology in the modern and secular context of the nation-state.
Foreign Policy Dynamics of Regime Change from the Arab Spring: Is there an Islamist Threat?
Dr. Rolin Mainuddin is Associate Professor of political science at North Carolina Central University, USA.
Without ruling out democracy in Muslim societies, Samuel Huntington found “din wa-dawla”—the intermingling of religious and political communities—a major challenge. Hrair Dekmejian and Judith Miller had expressed fear, given the lack of a democratic tradition in the Middle East, that after coming to office through elections Muslim political parties—“Islamists”—will scuttle the democratic process itself to stay in power. Yet, the Justice and Democratic Party (AKP) in Turkey did not end democratic institutions following electoral victory in 2002. While denying the United States the use of its territory for military operations against an Arab Muslim country, and being assertive with Israel on regional issues, the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not changed the basic security structure of Turkey’s membership in NATO. In spite of demonstrating pragmatism so far after winning the 2011 elections, will Mohamed Morsi and his Freedom and Justice Party—affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood—take Egypt on a divergent path? Is there any danger to the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty? What about United States relations with Turkey or the GCC countries? This paper will address the question of a perceived “Islamist” threat to United States national security interest in the MENA region.
Muslims and Foreign Policy in France and Great-Britain
Dr. Imène Ajala (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland)
A broad range of literature in the United States is dedicated to ethnic lobbying and foreign policy. In Europe, though the range of literature dedicated to Muslims is broad, it has never been looked at from this angle. The basic question guiding this paper, based on my doctoral dissertation, is thus: how have the presence and mobilization of Muslims in Europe affected foreign-policy making? To this end, two countries standing for two opposite models of integration, namely assimilation and multiculturalism, constitute the case studies and allow for a comparative study: France and Great Britain. A conceptual model based on basic game theoretical assumptions and instruments of measure of political influence is used as a grid to systematically analyze the case studies. A set of elements to be investigated empirically are derived from the model to guide the exploration of the case studies which constitute the focus of this paper. Empirical investigations look at the presence of Muslims in each country and their characteristics, the model of integration, the resources of the group in terms of electoral impact and institutional organization. Four elements are then emphasized to understand Muslim communities and their relation to foreign policy debates in both countries: their preferences, their influence attempts, their access to the decisions sphere and the reactions of decision-makers.

Panel 6/9: General/Case Studies between IR & Islam: Political Islam, Democracy, and Foreign Policy of Turkey

8th Pan – European Conference on International Relations
Theme: One International Relations or Many? Multiple Worlds, Multiple Crises
Wednesday 18 – Saturday 21 September 2013
Warsaw, Poland
Organised by the ECPR Standing Group on International Relations and EISA in cooperation with the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw and the Polish Association for International Studies.

This panel shows general and/or case studies between International Relations and Islam. 

Chair: Prof. Dr. Gül Ceylan Tok (Kocaeli University, Turkey)
Discussant: Prof. Dr. Can Zeyrek (University of Marburg, Germany)

Paper Presenters:

Turkey’s Political Islam and the West
Galip Dalay is working for Political Research Department of SETA Foundation and pursuing a PhD degree in International Relations at Middle East Technical University, Ankara.
From the Welfare Party (WP) to the Justice and Development Party (JDP), foreign policies of Islamic parties have attracted disproportionate scrutiny. One of the focal points has been their approach to the West and Western-oriented institutions.  This article, based on Jack S. Levy’s concept of learning in foreign policy, is divided into periods to better show the evolution of foreign policy perspectives: the Welfare Party period, the Virtue Party in transition, and the first (2002 – 2006), second (2006 – 2010/11), and third (2011 – ) periods of JDP rule. I argue that from WP rule until the JDP’s first period in power, these parties’ approach to the West has been largely motivated by domestic considerations for different reasons. The WP defined the West as its Islamist identity’s “other” and sought to create an alternative framework; the JDP regarded the West as an instrument to gain legitimacy, both domestically and internationally. Yet, in its second term, the JDP attempted to balance its Western focused foreign policy with alternative complementary frameworks to achieve a more prominent international role. However, the JDP’s third term has been shaped by the Arab Spring and characterised by uncertainty about Turkey’s relations with the west. Hence, JDP rule has seen the emergence of a newly outward-facing political Islam in Turkey.
Approaches to Political Islam in Turkey: A Gramscian Challenge
Gorkem Altinors (University of Nottingham, UK)
This presentation will demonstrate how the rise of political Islam in Turkey is understood by the mainstream academia and how Gramscian terminology (especially the integral state) would help us to illustrate power relations among neoliberal restructuring of the state within the state and civil society relations. Basically, existing literature on political Islam will be critically evaluated in this presentation. It would not be quite convenient to compare Turkey with other Islamic states because its own sui generis features such as its early and relatively high level of industrialisation, and its early but profound class contradictions and conflicts within it. Therefore this research will be primarily focussed on Turkish case and discussions among political Islam have been limited within the literature on Turkey in this research. The literature is separated into three basic subtitles as follows: state-centric approaches, society-centric approaches and institution-centric approaches. In the first one, there is an abstract assumption of strong state tradition which conflicts with civil society as if they are antagonistic entities. The second one accepts the strong state tradition as given, but there is more emphasis on civil society within identity-based issues. Finally, third one provides limited analysis of the fact since it is kept only within institutional level. The presentation will draw a Gramscian understanding of the state after the critical evaluation of mainstream approaches. In this context, it will be questioned that how the state and civil society relations should be considered in order to carry out a class-based analysis and how the rise of political Islam in Turkey should be comprehended within neoliberalism.
Islam and Democracy: Arab Spring and the Turkish Experience
Gökhan Duman is currently a PhD student in historical societies, land and heritage at the University of Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. He is also one of the project researchers in UNESCO Chair of Intercultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean.
Uprisings in the Arab world make us question the concept of “democracy”. From a Western perspective, the concept of democracy has a significant importance on people’s govern. Since the Ottoman Empire period, Arab countries always had rulers.  Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, they could not put have democracy in place. Some of them might have some sort of elections, but with missing crucial components such as the presence of a viable opposition group. Western scholars have always questioned the relationship between Islam and democracy. The ones belonging to the Orientalist camp claimed that Islam and democracy cannot coexist, since Islam and its legal system based on “Sharia”, is a method of governance itself, and it does not give any room democracy. On the contrary, modern Turkey proved that it is possible to have democracy and human rights in a Muslim society. The Republic of Turkey stands as an example whereby a country with an overwhelming (98%) Muslim majority and has a multi party political system with a functioning democracy. In this context, the Turkish case was widely debated following the Arab uprisings and the questions such as “Can Turkey be a role model to the Arab countries?” “Does Turkey have a “Western” democracy?” etc. asked frequently.  Besides these questions, there was an implicit assumption that the Arab countries need a role model in their quest of democracy. Turkey’s relations with its neighbors make her an ideal candidate for the debate of ‘role model’. Although Turkey might serve as a model with her democratic credentials, the Turkish trajectory should be studied closely to understand how she reached there. What are the fundamental characteristics of the Turkish Revolution (1923 – 1938)? What is the legacy of Ataturk?  How did he create a country from a scratch and more importantly how did he make democracy work in a country with a Muslim population?
Political Islam as Elite Ideology in Turkish Foreign Policy-Making?
Zenon Tziarras (University of Warwick, UK)
It has been widely debated whether the AKP and especially its leaders are ideologically driven. In this context, much has been written about how the writings of FM Davutoğlu, and the speeches of PM Erdoğan and President Gül, prove Turkey’s Islamic orientation and its leaders’ distinct perception of the West. Thus, although the AKP officially calls itself ‘conservative democrat’, many authors try either to prove the party’s ideological Islamist roots, or support its democratic character. To the end of contributing to this debate, this paper tries to answer two fundamental questions: what is the ideology of the AKP elite? To what extent does the AKP elite ideology influence Turkish foreign policy (TFP)? In answering the first question we first clarify whether there is an ideology or not; then, we make a distinction between the ideology of the AKP as a whole and the ideology of the policy-makers and officials, as expressed publicly. To examine the impact of ideology we empirically look at TFP towards Israel and Syria. The conclusion is that the AKP elite does have an ideology, based on political Islam; yet, its impact on foreign policy is limited as it is constrained by various material interests.
Turkey’s Recent Foreign Policy and Davutoğlu’s Role as an Islamic Intellectual
Prof. Dr. İştar Gözaydın is a professor of law and politics at Doğuş University, Istanbul.
There is little doubt that Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs of pro-Islamic AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), is the major driving force of Turkey’s ‘proactive and multi-dimensional’ foreign policy, even though the foundations for his regional foreign policy go back to 1980’s. Yet, it was Ahmet Davutoğlu who embedded this Ottoman reference into a reconsideration of the role of the West and of Turkey from a decidedly Islamic or intellectual-Islamist position. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, is also an academic of political science that has published several boks, and articles. Especially his book Strategic Depth is a very influential book in Turkey’s foreign policy orientation. He is very influential in the military, academic, and government triangle shaping Turkish foreign policy. Professor Davutoğlu was granted a title of ambassador by the joint decision of President then Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister at that time Abdullah Gül in 2003. As an ambassador Davutoğlu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel–Gaza conflict. In this paper I will scrutinize through his works how Davutoğlu as a scholar perceives the fields of Islam and international relations.