Author: M Barbu

In the Clash of Civilizations and Remaking of the World Order, Samuel Huntington discusses the revival of Islamic values within the Islamic world and discusses the social and cultural work of Islamic organizations within the Islamic societies. When defining the revival of Islamic values these organizations adopted to do positive social and cultural welfare work, Huntington uses the word “resurgence” and describes the organizations as “fundamentalist” organizations. Much of what Huntington writes, he, in fact highlights the impactful social and cultural welfare work in Islamic societies these organizations delivered; yet the reader in the West is led to see the values upon which the welfare activities were carried out as “resurgence” and “fundamentalist” activities. The deliberate use of these two terms, “resurgence” and “fundamentalist” are misleading for the reader in the West who, to the present date, may not understand that Islamic societies and their existence is primarily directed in accordance with Islamic values.

Can coercive airpower quell a rebellion? Existing literature on the effects of counterinsurgent
violence focuses predominantly on casualties resulting from attacks on civilians. It thus
overlooks the targeting of civilian infrastructure, which is a frequent phenomenon in war. We fill
this gap by examining the targeting of healthcare as one of the most essential infrastructures in
war and peace time. We argue that attacks on medical facilities are distinct from direct violence
against civilians.

Traditional religious divisions regularly fuel conflicts in the Middle East. When it comes to the division of Muslims into Sunnis and Shiites, then not only the Middle East is divided, but also the Islamic world. The Sunni-Shia divide is very dangerous, as history shows again and again.