Arap Baharı: İslam Üzerine Söylemsel Dönüşümün Habercisi Mi?

Büyük çoğunluğunu Arap ve/veya Müslüman toplumların oluşturduğu Orta Doğu ve Kuzey Afrika (ODKA) bölgesinde demokrasinin neden gelişemediği sorusu 2000’li yılların demokrasi alanyazınının en önemli tartışma konularından birisi olmuştur. Bu bölgenin bir “istisna” ve “anomali” olduğu sıklıkla vurgulanmaktadır. Arap Baharı diye adlandırılan bölgedeki özgürleşme hareketlerinin Tunus, Libya ve Mısır’da diktatör liderlerin iktidardan düşmesi sonucunu vermesiyle birlikte tartışma, ODKA bölgesinde Arap Baharının demokratikleşme ile mi, otoriter rejimlerin devamı ile mi, Şeriat yönetimlerinin kurulmasıyla mı sonuçlanacağına dönüşmüştür. Bu makale, ODKA bölgesinde demokrasinin gelişememesini İslam-demokrasi uyuşmazlığı teziyle açıklamaya çalışan dominant düşünce çizgisinin Arap Baharından sonra yerini nasıl bir söyleme bıraktığını inceleme konusu yapmaktadır. Makale, gelişmekte olan yeni söylemin 4 ana konuda (İslam ve İslamcılar imgesi, Batının bölgedeki çıkarları, terörle savaş, İsrail ile ilişkiler) önceki söylemden nasıl farklılaştığını göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Makale, gelişmekte olan yeni söylemle birlikte Batı’da İslam ve İslamcılar hakkında daha olumlu bir imge ortaya çıktığı ve bu imgenin kalıcı ve samimi olup olmadığının zaman içinde anlaşılabileceği sonucuna varmaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler:

Orta Doğu, Arap Baharı

Arab Spring: A Precursor of Discoursive Shift on Islam

One of the most important debate themes in the literature on democratization has been why MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, with a majority of Arab and/or Muslim population, is failing in transition to democracy. It is very often claimed that this region is an “exception” and an “anomaly”. After freedom movements named “Arab Spring” resulted with the fall of dictatorships in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, the debate took a new form, namely weather Arab Spring will lead, in the region, to decent democracies or survival of the authoritarian regimes or establishments of Islamic governments based on Sharia Law. This paper takes a brief look at the dominant discourse that tries to explain lack of democracy in MENA region with the thesis of Islam-democracy incompatibility. Then the paper examines how this is replaced with a new discourse after the Arab Spring. It aims at demonstrating how the new discourse is differentiated from the previous one in terms of 4 main topics (the image of Islam and Islamists, Western interest in the region, war on terror, relationships with Israel). It draws the conclusion that the new discourse generates a more positive image of Islam and Islamists in the West although it is not clear weather this image is frankly and permanent.

___

  • CHOUEIRI, Youssef (1996), “The Political Discourse of Contemporary Islamist Movements.” In Abdel Salem Sidahmed and Anoushiravam Ehteshami, eds. Islamic Fundamentalism. Boulder: Westview Press.
  • DENISON, Jim (2011), “Explaining Arab Spring”, http://www.denisonforum.org/global/8-explaining-the-arab-spring Friday, 22 July 2011.
  • DIAMOND, Larry (2010), “Why there are no Arab Democracy?”, Journal of Democracy, Volume 21, No: 1. Pp. 93-104.
  • DIAMOND, Larry (2011), “Democracy After the Arab Spring: A Fourth Wave or False Start?”, Foreign Affairs, May 22, 2011.
  • EIU (the Economist Intelligence Unite), (2010) Democracy Index 2010 Democracy In Retreat. www.eiu.com
  • EIU (the Economist Intelligence Unite), (2011) Spring Tide Will The Arab Risings Yield Democracy Dictatorship or Disorder? A Report From The Economist Intelligence Unit. www.eiu.com
  • ENGIN, Kenan (2011), “The Arab Spring: The 5.0 Democracy Wave”, Hurriyet Daily News - August 19, 2011.
  • ERGIL, Doğu (2011), “The Fourth Wave of Democratization”, Daily Zaman. 23 February 2011.
  • ESPOSITO, John L. (1992), Islam: The Straight Path, New York: Oxford University Press.
  • GERSHMAN, Carl (2011), “The Fourth Wave Where the Middle East Revolts Fit in the History of Democratization- and How We Can Support Them”, http://www.tnr.com/article/world/85143/middle-east-revoltdemocratization?page=0,0 March 14, 2011.
  • GOLDBERG, Jeffrey (2011), “Was the Arab Spring a Victory for Extremism?”, http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-23/was-arabspring-a-victory-for-extremism-commentary-by-jeffrey-goldberg Aralık 23, 2011.
  • HALLIDAY, Fred (1995), Islam and the Myth of Confrontation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, London: I. B. Tauris.
  • HAMZAWY, Amr (2005), “The Key to Arab Reform: Moderate Islamists”, Carnegie Endowment Policy Brief No. 40, July 2005 http://carnegieendowment.org/files/pb40.hamzawy.FINAL.pdf
  • HUNTINGTON, Samuel (1984), “Will More Countries Become Democratic?”, Political Science Quarterly 99 (Summer): 193-218.
  • HUNTINGTON, Samuel (1991), The Third Wave, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
  • HUNTINGTON, Samuel (1993), “Democracy’s Third Wave”, In Larry Diamond and Marc Plattner, eds. The Global Resurgence of Democracy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • HUNTINGTON, Samuel (1997), The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Simon & Schuster.
  • INGLEHART, Ronald (2000), “Culture and Democracy”, In Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel.
  • Huntinngton, eds. Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress. New York: Basic Books.
  • KEDOURIE, Elie (1994), Democracy and Arab Political Culture, London: Frank Cass Publishers.
  • KIMMEL, Michael S. (1990), Revolution A Sociological Interpretation, Temple University Press.
  • KAUSCH, Kristina (2010), Why the West Should Relinquish Mubarak, FRIDE. May 4, 2010.
  • KURTZ, Stanley (2011), “Is There an Arab Spring?”, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/262618/there-arab-spring-stanleykurtz March 21, 2011.
  • LEWIS, Bernard (2002), What Went Wrong?-Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response, Phoenix.
  • LEWIS, Bernard (2003), The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
  • MARKOFF, John (1996), Waves of Democracy, Pine Forge Press.
  • OLIMAT, Muhammed (2011), “The Fourth Wave: Revolution and Democratization in the Arab Middle East”, Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 12 #3.
  • PUDDINGTON, Arch (2011), “Democracy’s Stake in the Arab Spring”, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs V: 3.
  • QAZI, Wajahat (2011), “Arab Spring: Political Islam or Democracy?”, http://www.opendemocracy.net/wajahat-qazi/arab-spring-political-islamor-democracy, 19 December 2011.
  • SUROOR, Hasan (2011), “Arab Spring & U.K. Debate on Islam”, http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2340519.ece August 9, 2011.
  • The Runnymede Trust (1997), Islamophobia a Challenge for us all, Report of the Runnymede Trust, Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia. Chaired by Gordon Convey.